2-. 2.2. ./: 


Srom  f  ^e  feifirorg  of 

(pxoftseot  TJJimam  O^tffet  (J)a^on,  ©.©.,  Efe.®. 

(Jjteeenfcli  fie  (glrB.  (JJftrfon 

fo  f ?e  feifirare  of 

(pmceton  C^eofogicAf  ^entinArg 

.3  88 


f^      t 


Tt.iiH:  F.yni.'.ids'; 


:\%-' 


THE 


FEB??.  1912 


<^e> 


iloeim  1% 


«i\^ 


CHILDREN 


NEW  TESTAMENT. 


«  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaTen." — Jesus. 

«  How  oft,  heart-sick  and  sore, 
I've  wished  I  were,  once  more, 

A  little  child!"  — 3lR3.  Southbt. 


BY    y 

EEY.  THEOPHILUS  STORK,  D.D. 


/ntirtli  tBiitinii. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY    &    BLAKISTON. 

1855. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 
LINDSAY   &   BLAKISTON, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPED  BY  J.   FAGAN.  PRINTED   BY  C.  SHERMAN. 


PEEFACE. 

It  was  on  a  bright  and  balmy  afternoon  in  the  leafy 

month  of  May,  as  we  sat  with  a  friend   on  a  grassy 

knoll,    overlooking    the    picturesque    scenery    of   the 

Schuylkill,  that  the  idea  of  this  little  book  was  first 

suggested.     Surrounded  with  the  fresh  and  springing 

beauty  of  the  season,  we  felt  ourselves  in  sympathy  with 

nature,  rejuvenated,  and,  as  in  our  childhood,  every 

thing  seemed — 

*'  Apparelled  in  celestial  light, 
The  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream." 

It  was  by  a  very  natural  association  in  our  minds, 
that  the  conversation  turned  upon  little  children.  Our 
friend,  for  many  years  a  faithful  Sunday  School  teacher, 
related  several  touching  incidents  of  recent  occurrence 
in  his  school,  illustrating  the  fond  afiection  of  little  chil- 
dren for  those  manifesting  a  kindly  interest  in  them, 

(iii) 


IV  PREFACE. 

and  liow  quick  and  responsive  tlieir  sympatliy  to  every 
token  of  kindliness  and  love. 

After  some  interchange  of  sentiment  upon  this 
attractive  feature  of  childhood,  our  thoughts  turned 
to  the  several  scenes  in  the  'New  Testament,  in  which 
little  children  were  brought  to  view  in  attitudes  and 
relations  so  beautiful  and  attractive.  And  the  opinion 
was  mutually  expressed,  that  a  collection  of  these 
scenes,  mth  such  reflections  as  they  would  naturally 
suggest,  into  the  form  of  a  little  book,  might  prove 
both  interesting  and  profitable. 

The  idea  has  been  actualized  and  embodied  in 
this  little  Avork.  As  it  makes  no  great  pretensions,  it 
needs  no  apology. 

Originality  belongs  to  comparatively  few.  "We  have 
not  hesitated  to  adopt  leading  ideas  from  Olshausen 
and  other  German  writers,  as  well  as  from  Chalmers, 
Melvill,  Coleridge,  Wordsworth,  Cheever,  and  others.* 
Where  we  have  employed  the  thoughts  and  phraseology 
of  others,  w^e  have  acknowledged  our  indebtedness  by 
the  usual  marks  of  quotation. 

If  the  poetical  quotations  are  numerous,  it  is  owing 
partly  to  our  fondness  for  thoughts  in  that  form  of 

*  This  acknowledgment  is  especially  applicable  to  chapters  2d  and  3d. 


PREFACE.  V 

expression,  as  well  as  to  the  fact,  that  our  thoughts 
assume  their  best  attitudes  and  loveliest  attire  in  Poetry, 
which  is  '^the  blossom  and  fragrancy  of  all  human 
knowledge." 

The  idea  that  a  book  is  original,  in  proportion  to 
the  absence  of  all  quotational  signs,  is,  we  think,  a 
fallacy.  There  may  be  least  originality,  where  there 
are  no  signs  of  quotation.  And  according  to  DTsraeli, 
the  man  who  never  quotes  from  others,  is,  in  turn, 
rarely  ever  quoted  by  any  body  else. 

The  reader  will  notice,  that  in  the  classification 
of  the  Scripture  scenes,  we  have  inverted  the  order 
observed  in  the  sacred  record.  The  reason  of  this 
will  be  at  once  obvious,  and,  therefore,  needs  no 
explanation. 

Our  design  has  been  simply  to  bring  consecutively 
to  view,  these  picture  scenes  of  little  children  in  the 
ISiew  Testament,  and  evolve  the  moral  lessons  they 
infold,  and  apply  them  to  practical  improvement. 
And,  if  this  humble  efibrt  shall  serve  to  awaken  a 
livelier  interest,  and  a  more  solemn  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, in  our  relations  to  little  children,  and  quicken 
the  efforts  of  Christians,  in  the  religious  education  of 
the  young,    under   a  conviction    of   their    important 


Vi  PREFACE. 

instrumental  connection  witli  the  advancement  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  we  shall  be  satisfied. 

And  we  are  .encouraged  in  the  hope  of  such  a  result^ 
from  the  fact,  that  a  book  small  in  size  and  attractive 
in  its  outward  appearance,  may  find  access,  where 
books  of  larger  bulk,  and  more  elaborate  argument, 
would  be  unwelcome.  "Ships  of  small  draught  may- 
sail  up  the  tributary  streams  of  the  popular  mind, 
where  vessels  of  heavy  tonnage  cannot  be  admitted." 

We    commend   this  plea  for  little   children  —  and 

these  afieetionate  monitions  to  Christian  parents  —  and 

the  consolatory  thoughts  for  the  bereaved,  to  the  Spirit 

and  blessing  of — 

"  Illm,  whose  praise  I  seek — 
WTiose  frown  can  disappoint  the  proudest  aim. 
Whose  approbation,  prosper  oven  mine." 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  1853. 


FRIENDS 


XiiWt  €Yilhn, 


SCRIPTURE    SCENES 


AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED 


AND    DEDICATED 


AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  L 

INTRODUCTION.  —  THE   WONDEESOP  BETH- 
L  E  H  E  ai . 

The  ^'  Holy  Child  Jesus."  The  Childhood  and  Youth  of 
Christ.  The  Devout  SimeoUj  with  the  infant  Saviour  in 
his  arms.  Jesus  among  the  Doctors  in  the  Temple.  The 
sympathy  of  Christ  with  little  children.  The  beauty  of 
childhood.     Poetical  quotations  from  Wordsworth 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

LITTLE    CHILDREN     BROUGHT     TO     THE   SAVIOUR. 

Explanation  of  the  scene  in  Mark  x.  13-14.  The  Disci- 
ples' conduct.  The  probable  reasons  of  their  interference. 
The  Saviour's  displeasure  at  their  conduct.  His  affec- 
tionate welcome  to  children.  How  parents  now  may  pre- 
vent children  from  going  to  Christ.  An  earnest  dissuasive 
from  such  deportment.  The  importance  of  example.  The 
influence  of  the  home-spirit.  The  positive  duty  of  bring- 
ing our  children  to  the  Saviour 50 

(ix) 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE     CHILDREN     IN     THE   TEMPLE. 

Explanation  of  the  temple-scene,  Matt.  xxi.  15-16.  The 
hosanna  of  the  children.  The  displeasure  of  the  priests 
and  scribes.  The  Saviour's  vindication  of  the  children. 
Ps.  viii.  2,  explained.  The  importance  of  early  impres- 
sions. Reformation.  National  education.  Sunday  schools. 
Facts,  showing  that  children  trained  in  religion  will  be- 
come the  champions  of  truth  and  virtue.  Beautiful  visions 
of  the  future = 77 

CHAPTER  IV. 

TIMOTHY. 

His  early  religious  education.  The  influence  of  maternal 
piety.  Eunice  an  example  for  the  imitation  of  mothers. 
The  "child  father  of  the  man."  Instruction  and  piety 
combined.    Encouragement  to  pious  mothers 95 

CHAPTER  Y. 

THE     INFANTICIDE     AT     BETHLEHEM. 

Explanation  of  the  scene.  Seeming  incongruity.  Vindica- 
tion of  Divine  Providence,  in  the  massacre  of  the  infants. 
Infant  martyrs.  The  scene,  suggestive  of  the  following 
topics : 

1.  The  death  of  little  children.  Sources  of  consolation. 
Providence.     Infant  salvation. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

2.  Mission  of  children.  The  advent  of  a  little  child  in  the 
family.  The  child  at  home.  The  sick  and  dying  child. 
The  memory. 

3.  Children  in  heaven.  Beautiful  aspect  of  the  heavenly 
home. 

4.  Recognition.  Difficulties  of  the  doctrine.  Scriptural 
aspect  of  the  subject.  David.  Recognition  of  the  loved 
and  lost  in  heaven 108 

Conclusion 185 


THE 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT. 


C[ia|ittr  /iwt 


THE   HOLY  CHILD  JE  S  US.— Acts  iv.  27. 


"  0 !  is  it  not  a  blessed  thought, 
Children  of  human  birth, 
That  once  the  Saviour  was  a  child, 
And  lived  upon  the  earth?" 


There  is  an  obvious  propriety  in  devoting  this  first 
chapter  to  the  "Holy  Child  Jesus."  In  proposing  to 
speak  of  the  little  children  of  the  ITew  Testament,  the 
first  place  is  due  to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Divine 
Child;  and,  in  addition  to  the  moral  fitness  of  this 
arrangement,  it  is  also  in  harmony  with  the  order  of 
the  sacred  history. 

3  (25) 


26  TIIEIIOLYCIIILDJESUS. 

Our  first  ideas  of  tlie  Saviour,  derived  from  scripture 
prophecy  and  history,  are  associated  with  his  coming 
as  a  httlc  child.  The  most  remote,  as  well  as  the  proxi- 
mate intimations  of  his  advent,  were  given  in  the  pro- 
mise of  a  child.  The  first  promise  that  sounded  amid 
the  wreck  of  Eden,  like  the  first  notes  of  the  Gospel, 
and  arched  the  clouded  earth  with  the  bright  rainbow 
of  hope,  was  given  in  language  that  awakened  the 
expectation  that  the  promised  Messiah  would  come  as  a 
little  child.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  idea  of  our 
primeval  Mother,  causing  that  simple  and  childlike 
outburst  of  her  heart,  as  she  looked  npon  her  first-born 
son,  with  the  words  of  joy  and  transport,  ^'I  have 
gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord ! "  words  expressive  of  the 
secret  hope  of  her  heart  that  her  first-born  son  was  the 
promised  "seed  of  the  woman." 

Among  the  most  distinct  announcements  of  his 
coming,  in  the  Messianic  prophecies,  is  that  of  the  rap- 
turous Isaiah,  catching,  in  prophetic  vision,  a  glimj)se 
of  the  wonders  of  Bethlehem,  exclaiming  —  "Unto  us 
a  child  is  born ;  unto  us  a  son  is  given ;  and  the  go- 
vernment shall  be  upon  his  shoulders,  and  his  name 
shall  be  called  "Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The  Mighty  God, 
The  Everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace."     The 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  27 

inspired  propliet  sees  fhe  Miglity  God,  the  Pnnce  of 
Peace,  in  that  Httle  child  in  Bethlehem. 

And  "when  the  fulness  of  the  time"  was  at  hand, 
the  proximate  intimation  of  the  fact  was  given  in  the 
promise  made  to  the  devout  Zacharias,  that  his  wife 
Elizabeth  should  bear  him  a  son,  and  that  he  should 
be  a  holy  child,  and  many  should  rejoice  at  his  birth." 
Luke  i.  13,  14,  15. 

And  as  the  ecstatic  father  folded  that  son  of  promise 
in  his  arms,  he  was  moved  to  pour  forth  the  gushing 
emotions  of  his  joy  in  the  prophetic  exclamation,  "  Thou, 
child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Highest!" — 
He  saw  in  that  child  the  Forerunner  of  the  Messiah  — 
the  beauteous  morning-star  that  heralds  the  coming 
day. 

^'  The  Harbinger  of  the  Gospel  was  a  sanctified  Utile 
child.'' 

In  harmony  with  these  pre-intimations,  the  Messiah 
came  as  a  child.  When  the  humble  shepherds  received 
the  message,  "  Unto  you  is  horn  a  Saviour,"  and  had 
listened  mth  bewildered  joy  to  his  birth-hymn  sung  by 
the  angels,  ''  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,"  they  went 
to  Bethlehem,  and  found  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the 
Bahe  lying  in  a  manger. 


28  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

The  Magi  of  Persia  saw  His  star  in  the  evening  sky, 
beckoning  them  to  Judea.  It  was  to  them  the  star  of 
Jacob,  and,  moved  by  a  divine  impulse,  they  make  their 
pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  and  inquire,  "Where  is  he 
that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  Directed  to  Bethle- 
hem, they  renew  their  journey — "  and  lo !  the  star  which 
they  saw  in  the  east  went  before  them,  till  it  came  and 
stood  over  where  the  young  child  was."  They  were 
filled  with  ecstatic  joy — "  the  morning-star  of  their  hope 
had  become  the  evening-star  of  their  desire  accom- 
plished." 

"  And  when  they  were  come  into  the  house,  they  saw 
the  young  child,  with  Mary  his  mother,  and  fell  down 
and  worshipped  Him,'' 

Thus  beautiful  are  the  associations  of  Messiah's  kine- 
dom  with  a  little  child.  Nor  are  we  to  regard  it  as  an 
unmeaning  coincidence.  There  is  a  touching  signifi- 
cance in  the  fact  that  the  Son  of  God  came  as  a  little 
child,  yet  a  Saviour.  "  It  was  to  teach  us  that  he  is  the 
Saviour  of  little  children,  who  bear  his  likeness  more 
closely  than  the  best  disciple  of  mature  years  ever  can, 
as  well  as  of  1:he  adults  who  believe  in  his  name.  It 
was  to  claim  the  w^hole  world  of  infancy  as  his  own, 
however  men  might  reject  his  grace.     It  was  to  assure 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  29 

the  anxious  mother  bending  over  his  image  in  her 

child,  that 

She  may  trust  her  sweet  "babe  through  the  hour  of  danger, 
To  the  mercy  of  Him,  who  was  laid  in  a  manger." 

As  we  turn  and  look  at  that  picture  of  the  l^ativity, 
(as  represented  in  our  frontispiece,)  and  recall  the  won- 
ders of  Bethlehem,  we  feel  the  dread  but  touching  mys- 
tery which  surrounds  the  Bahe  in  the  manger,  and  our 
hearts  are  bowed  with  the  prostrate  Magi  in  worship. 

That  little  child  is  the  incarnate  God!  a  Being  at 
once  human  and  divine.  That  little  hand  is  the  hand 
of  Him  who  of  old  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 
and  stretched  abroad  the  heavens  as  a  curtain;  that 
infant  cry  is  the  voice  of  Him,  who,  in  the  beginning, 
said,  ''Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light!"  Our 
reason  is  bewildered,  and  our  conceptions  of  what  we 
see  are  dim  and  misty.  Can  this  be  what  was  promised 
in  Paradise  Lost  ?  "Was  it  this,  seen  in  the  dim  dis- 
tance, that  gladdened  the  heart  of  Abraham  ?  Was  it 
this  that  made  the  dying  eyes  of  Jacob  flash  with  the 
glory  of  the  latter  days  ?  How  can  it  be  ?  We  look 
again,  but  our  thoughts  seem  to  commingle  in  a  con-, 
fused  and  gloomy  shade,  and  the  only  distinct  con- 
sciousness is  that  of  mystery.  We  turn  to  the  Gospel, 
3* 


80  THE    IJOLY    CHILD    JESUS. 

and  read  with  the  scene  still  before  us — "  In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God ;  and  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us."  Then,  however  it  may  baffle  our 
understanding,  that  mysterious  child  is  Emmanuel,  God 
v/ith  us.  We  receive  the  incarnation  as  a  fact  of  Divine 
revelation ;  and  if  any  in  their  stultified  reason  ask, 
"  What  kind  of  a  revelation  is  the  revelation  of  a  mys- 
tery ?"  we  answ^er  that  it  is  the  revelation  of  a  fact,  all 
the  modes  and  relations  of  which  are  not  known ;  a 
revelation  analogous  to  that  of  nature  —  for  she  sur- 
rounds us  with  facts,  and  leaves  us  in  the  midst  of 
mysteries  to  wonder  and  adore.  The  Bible  reveals 
great  facts,  as  the  night  shows  the  stars,  and,  like  Na- 
ture, leaves  us  standing  in  the  midst  of -infinity,  sur- 
rounded with  mystery,  w^ith  a  thousand  questions  un 
answered.   (IIopkiks.) 

And  there  is  no  conflict  between  reason  and  mystery, 
they  are  equally  conditions  of  a  spiritual  but  limited 
existence ;  and  it  must  be  equally  obvious,  that  to  finite 
beings,  religion  dissociated  from  mystery  is  impossible. 
A  religion  without  a  mystery  would  be  a  religion  with- 
out spiritual  attributes,  without  immortality,  a  religion 
without  a  God!     Fichte,  speaking  of  the  Incompre- 


a:HE    HOLY    CHILD    JESUS.  81 

hensible  One,  says,  "  What  I  uuderstancl  is,  from  my 
very  understanding  it,  finite,  and  by  no  progression 
can  ever  be  transformed  into  the  Infinite.  I  will  not 
attempt  that  which  my  finite  nature  forbids,  I  will  not 
seek  to  know  the  nature  and  essence  of  thy  being." 

It  is  with  something  of  this  feeling  I  receive  the  doc- 
trine of  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  I  receive 
it  as  a  fact  of  Divine  revelation.  It  is  a  dread  and  im- 
penetrable mystery  which  transcends  my  reason,  and 
eludes  all  human  analysis.  The  fact  I  know,  that  God 
is  incarnate  in  Christ  Jesus ;  but  the  modes  and  rela- 
tions of  the  fixct  are  too  subtle,  too  vast,  too  profound 
for  human  thought.  There  is  in  the  mysterious  union 
of  the  Divine  and  human  an  inherent  necessity,  veiling 
it  in  a  profound  and  sacred  obscurity. 

But  if  it  baffles  my  understanding,  it  touches  and 
moves  my  heart,  as  no  other  fact  ever  has  done,  or  can 
do.  It  meets  a  want  of  my  spiritual  nature,  which 
nothing  else  can  satisfy.  The  mind  can  never  rest 
with  mere  abstractions;  it  demands  living  realities. 
And  hence,  if  it  has  not  this  great  objective  fact  of 
Christianity,  God  in  Christ,  it  will  either  lose  all 
consciousness  of  God,  or,  as  in  Paganism,  fashion  some 
symbol  of  divinity,  however  degrading ;  or,  as  in  more 


82  (TiiE  iioLY  CHILD  jesus. 

thouglitful  minds,  run  into  Eationalism,  which  has  its 
real  foundation  in  that  theory  of  Pantheism,  "  which 
ends  in  deifying  the  natural  powers  of  man.  For  put 
the  Incarnation  out  of  view,  and  Pantheism  is  the 
natural  resource  of  reflective  minds."* 

An  ahstract  spirit,  infinite  in  purity  and  love,  is 
indeed  a  grand  conception ;  but  it  is  too  cold, 
undefined,  and  distant,  to  satisfy  the  heart.  There  is 
still  a  conscious  yearning  for  something  to  unite^ 
according  to  Schleirmacher's  view,  the  human  con* 
sciousness  with  the  Divine.  And  this  is  found  in 
Christ.  In  him  God  draws  nigh  to  us,  and  we  see  and 
feel  his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  In  him  we  have  a 
livino:  incarnation  of  the  Godhead.  And  though  to 
the  understanding  it  is  a  solemn  and  unfathomable 
mystery,  the  heart  apprehends  the  ineffable  idea,  and 
is  thrilled  with  a  responsive  love,  conscious  of  having 
found  God  in  Christ  —  and  in  him  a  solution  of  the 
mysterious  yearnings  of  the  soul  for  the  infinite  and 
immortal.  By  faitli  in  him,  the  heart  finds  a  brother, 
Saviour,  friend ;  and  exultingly  exclaims,  with  Thomas, 
"  My  Lord  and  my  God !" 

God  incarnate  in  Christ ;  it  is  a  mystery  sublime  and 

*  Wilberforce  on  the  Incarnation,  p.  27. 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  33 

beautiful !  But  once  seen  by  faith,  realized  to  the 
heart  in  its  saving  and  practical  relations,  it  diffuses 
through  the  soul  ^' peace  like  a  river;"  it  transforms 
us  mth  a  divine  glory.  But  it  is  only  in  an  attitude  of 
prostrate  and  devout  worship,  like  that  of  the  magi  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus — it  is  only  when  the  soul  is  bowed  in 
lowliness  and  faith  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  that  the 
sweet  mystery  and  glory  of  God  in  Christ  is  seen  and 
felt  by  the  heart  in  its  saving,  all-transforming  power. 
It  was  just  in  this  spiritual  lowliness  and  self-abasement 
before  Christ,  D'Aubigne  tells  us,  he  rose  from  prayer 
in  the  study  of  the  learned  Kleuker  of  Kiel,  and  felt 
all  his  doubts  and  difficulties  removed,  and  the  peace 
of  God  in  his  soul ;  and  ever  did  he  strive  to  keep  his 
soul  in  that  spiritual  attitude  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
And  it  was  thus,  we  are  informed,  that  the  distinguished 
scholar,  Francis  Junius,  was  recovered  from  absolute 
atheism,  by  a  clear  and  sudden  view  of  the  glory  of 
Christ,  leading  him  to  exclaim,  "  Thou,  Lord  my  God, 
didst  remember  me,  and  received  me,  a  lost  sheep,  into 
thy  fold."  And  this,  we  believe,  is  substantially  the 
experience  of  every  Christian.  Wliatever  mystery 
may  surround  the  doctrine  of  "  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh"  in  the  apprehensions  of  the  mind,  there  is  none 


34  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

iu  the  lieart.  God  in  Christ  received  into  the  affections 
by  a  simple  childhke  faith,  is  the  beginning  of  a  divine 
light  and  life  in  the  soul  full  of  peace  and  joy,  trans- 
forming it  into  the  image  of  Jesus,  from  glory  to  glory, 
even  as  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord. 

"  I  love  th'  incarnate  mystery, 
And  there  I  fis  my  trust." 

But  in^ addition  to  this  general  aspect  of  the  incarna- 
tion, there  is  something  inexpressibly  beautiful  and 
touching  in  the  fact,  that  the  Son  of  God  appeared  as 
a  child.  ''It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,"  says 
Barnes,  "in  the  scripture  account  of  the  incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God,  that  he  did  not  at  once  assume  the 
human  form  in  its  mature  and  manly  proportions: 
that  the  second  Adam  did  not  appear  on  the  stage  as 
the  first  did,  already  a  man  in  shape  and  stature,  the 
most  noble  and  beautiful  of  the  race ;  but  that  he 
appeared  as  a  child,  with  all  the  innocent  character- 
istics and  S3n:TLpathies  of  a  child.' 

There  was  nothing  unnatural  or  incongruous  in  the 
Godhead  veihng  itself  in  the  form  of  a  child.  Some 
men,  with  their  ideas  of  material  vastness  and  expansion 
associated  with  their  conceptions  of  God,  have  felt  as  if 
there  was  a  kind  of  cotnpression  of  the  Divine  Glory  in 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  85 

that  Babe  of  Betlileliem.  But  if  we  view  God  as  a  spirit, 
having  no  essential  affinity  with  material  vastness  or 
grandeur,  and  conceive  of  his  glory  as  consisting  in 
spiritual  excellences  and  perfections,  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  seeing  that  glory  in  the  immaculate  child 
Jesus.  "The  true  Shekinah,"  says  Chrysostom,  "is 
Man."  But  an  innocent  child  is  in  some  respects 
nearer  the  infinite,  nearer  Heaven,  than  a  man,  for 

'  Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy." 

And  we  may  therefore  say  with  perhaps  greater 
propriety,  that  the  true  Shekinah  is  a  little  child,  and 
that  the  most  beautiful  shrine  of  Deity  was  that  sin- 
less child.  "And  in  him  dwelt,"  even  then,  "all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodil3\"  "And  those  who 
saw  him  and  believed,  felt  that  Godhead  lay  in  him 
softly  and  fully,  as  the  image  of  the  sun  in  a  drop  of 
dew." 

But  whatever  of  mysteiy  may  surround  that  scene 
in  Bethlehem  —  however  humbling  to  all  the  pre- 
tensions of  human  reason  in  its  vain  attempts  to 
measure  the  dimensions  of  that  infant  cradle  —  how- 
ever opposed  to  all  our  preconceptions  of  the  Messiah 
—  the  fact  has  touched  the  sympathies   of  mankind, 


36  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

and  won  the  heart  of  the  world,  as  no  other  fact  ever 

has  done,  or  can  do.      The   simple  but   sublime  fact 

that  the  Eternal  Word  was  veiled  in  an  infant  form, 

and  lived  as  a  little  child — 

"  The  happiest,  the  holiest, 
That  ever  blessed  the  earth/' 

IIow  has  the  heart  of  the  world  gathered  around 
that  Divine  child !  How  anxiously  has  it  sought  to 
lift  the  veil  which  hangs  over  the  early  years  of  Jesus, 
and  desired  to  know  "  the  precise  complexion  of  that 
moral  dawn  which  preceded  the  pure  and  perfect  efful- 
gence that  shone  forth  on  the  history  of  his  riper 
years!"*  And  in  the  absence  of  a  full  history,  how 
has  fflncy  taken  the  detached  glimpses  of  his  child- 
hood given  in  the  gospel  of  Luke,  and  sought  to 
picture  the  sinless  child  with  an  outward  form  —  the 
personification  of  all  that  is  lovely  and  beautiful :  a 
cherub's  face  and  smile,  seraphic  purity,  and  a  voice 
whose  tones  were  musical  with  heavenly  sweetness! 
And  yet  such  an  ideal  of  the  holy  child  Jesus  would 
fall  immeasurably  below  the  reality.  For  such  an 
ideal  is,  after  all,  conceived  from  hum^n  standards  and 
comparisons  of  what  we  know.  Whereas  David,  in 
*  Chalmers. 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS,  BT 

fiis  prophetic  picture  of  the  Messiah,  says,  ^'  Thou  art 
fairer  than  the  children  of  men ;  grace  is  poured  into 
thy  lips."  Alexander  renders  the  passage  thus: 
^'  Beautiful,  beautiful  art  thou  above  the  sons  of  man. 
He  is  not  praised  as  the  fairest  and  most  beautiful  of 
men,  but  as  fair  or  beautiful  beyond  all  human 
standard  or  comparison.  This  general  ascription  of  all 
loveliness  is  followed  by  the  specification  of  a  single 
charm,  that  of  delightful  captivating  speech — grace  or 
beauty  of  expression. "'i*  So  that  no  ideal  of  human 
conception  can  reach  the  transcendent  spiritual  beauty 
and  loveliness"  of  the  holy  child  Jesus,  There  are 
occasional  glimpses  of  his  early  years  in  the  gospel 
revealing  those  moral  elements  of  character^  which, 
in  their  combinations  and  developments,  afterwards 
appeared  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  holy  and 
separate  from  sinners. 

T^e  have  in  successive  touches  of  the  sacred  penman, 
the  simple  relation  of  his  deference  to  the  doctors  in 
the  temjjle,  and  his  personal  interest  in  the  questions 
connected  with  the  great  subject  of  religion  —  his  filial 
subjection  to  Joseph  and  Mary — and  in  Luke  xi.  40,  a 
summary  of  his  infant  history.     "  And  the  child  grew 

■■"  Alexander  on  Psalms. 


88  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled  witli  wisdom  ;  and  tlie 
grace  of  God  was  upon  him." 

This  passage  indicates  the  pnniy  luiman  development 
of  Jesus  in  body  as  well  as  mind.  The  words,  "the 
grace  of  God  was  upon  him,"  are  not  onh^  expressive 
of  the  divine  complacency  in  Jesiis,  but  indicative  of 
the  efficient  cause  of  the  pure  nnclouded  development 
of  the  life  of  the  Redeemer.  He  possessed  a  sinless 
intellect.  There  was  no  moral  haze  to  obscure  his 
expanding  mind.  The  rays  of  Mght  had  not  to  struggle 
through  the  mists  of  error  and  sin,  that  surround  the 
mind  of  a  sinful  child.  He  grew  in  wisdom,  for  it  was 
the  aliment  of  his  sinless  soul.  The  idea  is  clearly 
expressed  of  a  gradual  development  of  his  mind.  There 
was  the  dawn,  the  morning,  and  the  advancing  day ; 
but  it  was  a  morning  without  obscuring  mists,  and  a 
day  with  no  overshadowing  clouds.  This  idea  is  ex- 
tracted and  then  expanded  by  Olshausen  from  the 
declaration,  "the  grace  of  God  was  npon  him."  In 
his  exposition  of  this  passage  he  says,  "  The  grace  is 
nothing  but  the  d/a-ra),  "love,"  which  manifests. itself, 
and  which  proves  itself  efficacious.  In  every  moment 
of  the  life  of  Jesns,  the  love  of  God  was  reflected  in 
him  as  in  a  mirror ;  he  was  in  every  sense  a  child,  in 


THE    HOLY    CHILD    JESUS.  6\) 

every  sense  a  yontli,  in  every  sense  a  man,  and  sancti- 
fied thus  all  the  degrees  of  the  development  of  humanity ; 
but  there  never  appeared  in  him  anything  inconsistent 
theremth,  which  would  have  been  the  case  had  expres- 
sions of  a  riper  or  advanced  degree  of  life  manifested 
itself  during  the  period  of  his  childhood." 

These  several  allusions  to  the  early  human  develop- 
ment of  Jesus,  and  the  occasional  glimpses  of  the  moral 
features  of  his  childhood,  pure  and  sinless  in  all  its 
manifestations,  may  give  us  some  approximate  idea  of 
the  ''holy  child  Jesus,"  as  a  pure,  sinless,  beautiful, 
perfect  child. 

We  cannot  omit  an  allusion  to  that  touching  incident 
in  the  history  of  the  infancy  of  Jesus,  associated  with 
his  presentation  to  the  Lord  in  the  Temple.  That 
Gospel  picture  of  the  aged  and  devout  Simeon,  folding 
the  infant  Saviour  to  his  heart,  with  that  sweet,  swan- 
like cantick  gushing  from  his  soul,  "  Lord,  now  lettest 
thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have 
seen  thy  salvation,"  has  cheered  the  imagination  and 
heart  of  the  world.  Even  Joseph  and  Mary,  after  all 
the  previous  wonders  of  Bethlehem,  marvelled  when 
they  saw  that  pious  old  man  holding  the  child  in  his 
arms,  and  heard  those  words  of  prophetic  ecstacy  that 


40  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

glowed  from  his  inspired  lips.  And  no  one  that  Las 
ever  read  the  Gospel  forgets  that  scene.  It  has  charmed 
the  imagination  of  childhood,  and  lulled  the  aged  saint 
to  his  last  sweet  sleep  in  Jesus.  IsTever,  says  an  eloquent 
preacher,  was  there  a  finer  picture  offered  to  the  imagi- 
nation. Old  age  gazing  in  raptured  reverence  on  in- 
fancy ;  and  the  saint  on  the  verge  of  heaven  beholding 
in  that  innocent  and  helpless  Eahe,  the  light  and  life 
of  the  world. 

The  only  event  in  the  Saviour's  life  mentioned  in  the 
Gospel  history  prior  to  his  appearance  in  public,  is  one 
of  peculiar  interest,  as  unfolding  in  the  child  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  divine  nature,  and  foreshadowing  his 
divine  mission.  "We  last  saw  the  infant  Saviour,  as  an 
unconscious  child,  in  the  arms  of  the  ecstatic  Simeon ; 
we  see  him  now  a  holy  and  beautiful  youth  in  the  midst 
of  the  doctors  in  the  temple,  hearing  and  asking  ques- 
tions. "The  opinion,"  says  Olshausen,  "that  Jesus 
taught  in  the  temple,  must  be  dismissed  as  monstrous  ; 
an  instructing,  demonstrating  child,  would  be  a  contra- 
diction which  the  God  of  order  could  not  possibly  have 
placed  in  the  world.  The  words  "listening  to,"  and 
"  questioning,"  of  ver.  46,  refer  clearly  enough  to  his 
receptivity.     The  Scriptures,  and  the   sublime  hopes 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  41 

wliicli  tliey  awaken,  must  have  formed  no  doubt  the 
basis  of  his  questions ;  he  inquires  after  himself ;  and, 
we  may  say,  that  the  whole  struggle  and  longing  dis- 
played by  the  child  Jesus  was  nothing  but  a  desire  for 
the  revelation  of  himself"* 

In  his  reply  to  the  anxious  and  interrogating  parents, 
we  discover  an  awakening  consciousness  of  his  divine 
nature  and  mission.  ^'  How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me  ? 
wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?" 
These  words  lift  the  veil  of  mysterj^  that  hung  round 
the  holy  child  Jesus,  and  give  us  a  glimpse  of  what  he 
then  was,  and  what  he  was  destined  to  be.  They  are 
words  expressive  of  a  dawning  consciousness  of  the 
special  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  the  Father  as  the 
Son  of  God,  and  a  presentiment  of  his  sublime  spiritual 
destiny,  and  a  foreshadowing  of  his  future  beneficent 
mission. 

Beautiful  indeed  to  the  imagination,  and  lovely  to 
the  heart,  is  the  aspect  of  the  Saviour  as  the  ^'holy 
child  Jesus,"  "  He  was  a  child — a  holy  child — a  divine 
child  —  an  eternal  child.  He  seems  still  to  sit  among 
the  doctors,  with  Zoroaster,  and  Moses,  and  Confucius, 
and  Socrates,  and  Plato,  ranged  around  him,  both  hear- 
*  Olshausen's  Com.  on  Luke. 


42  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

ing  them  and  asking  tliem  questions,  wliile  tliey.  like 
the  sheaves  of  Joseph's  brethren,  are  compelled  to  how 
down  before  the  noble  youth."* 

But  the  fact  that  the  Son  of  God  came  and  lived  as  a 
child,  is  something  more  than  an  object  of  mere  poeti- 
cal beauty  or  sentimental  influence.  It  has  a  doctrinal 
aspect  of  great  practical  and  consolatory  interest.  Jesus 
w^as  in  every  sense  a  child,  that  he  might  be  a  perfect 
Saviour  of  children,  as  well  as  of  believing  adults- 
"Wherefore,"  says  the  apostle,  "in  all  things  it  be- 
hooved him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren."  May 
we  not  compreliQnd  in  this  essential  assimilation  to 
our  humanity,  the  assumption  of  human  nature  in  its 
lowliest  form,  that  thus  "  Jesus  passing  through  all  the 
stages  of  human  life,  from  infancy  to  manhood,  might 
sanctify  them  all."  The  idea  is  as  true  and  Biblical  as 
it  is  beautiful  and  consoling.  It  was  thus  Christ  became 
a  merciful  and  perfect  High  Priest  —  possessing  a  sym- 
pathy with  every  stage  of  human  development,  and 
every  phase  of  human  life ;  making  him  a  perfect  Sa- 
viour of  little  children,  as  well  as  of  those  of  mature 
years ;  touched  with  a  feeling  of  the  infirmities  of  these 
little  ones,  in  all  their  mental  and  emotional  trials  — • 

*  Gilfillan,  Bards  of  the  Bible. 


THE    HOLY    CHILD    JEStTS.  43 

trials  so  subtile  and  liidden  as  to  elude  the  eye  even  of 
a  mother's  love;  sympathizing  -with  those  incipient 
evolutions  of  thought  and  feeling  long  before  they  can 
find  expression  in  language,  or  awaken  a  responsivcj 
sympathy  even  in  a  mother's  heart. 

There  is  something  intensely  interesting  in  this  idea 
of  the  Saviour,  as  once  a  little  child,  and  retaining  ever 
after  a  perfect  consciousness  of  his  human  childhood^ 
and  a  consequent  sympathy  with  little  ones,  such  as  no 
other  being  can  feel,  not  even  a  mother  in  all  her  deep 
and  yearning  affection.  It  was  this  that  gave  such  a 
touch  of  gentleness  and  simplicity  to  his  whole  charac- 
ter ;  for  even  after  he  entered  upon  the  great  work  of 
his  manhood,  the  public  teachings  and  redemptive 
works  of  his  Divine  mission,  he  seemed  still  to  possess 
the  moral  beauty  of  a  child.  "  His  sermons,  possessing 
no  logical  sequence  and  coherence,  seem  like  the  uttep 
ances  of  a  divine  infant."  "\Yhen  he  spake  as  man 
never  spake — when  he  performed  his  miracles  of  mercy 
— when  he  gave  utterance  to  truths  and  sentiments  such 
as  had  never  fallen  from  human  lips,  ^'  he  still  retained 
all  the  simplicit}^  of  character  wdiich  he  had  when  a 
child,  and  evinced  in  his  manner  all  that  would  meet 
the  sympathies  of  a  child,  and  go  at  once  to  hia  heart." 


44  THEHOLYCHILDJESUS. 

This  also  gave  a  peculiarity  to  his  teachings,  so  clear 
and  simple,  so  full  of  explanatory  references  to  the 
beauties  of  nature,  to  fields  of  waving  grain,  and 
flowers,  and  birds,  and  fountains ;  illustrating  the  pro- 
foundest  truths  by  simple  and  touching  parables.  All 
this  peculiarity  in  the  Saviour's  method  of  instruction, 
evinced  his  own  childlike  simplicity  of  character,  and 
made  both  himself  and  his  teaching  so  attractive  to  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  children. 

And  this  same  feature  will  account  in  part  for  the 
interest  he  felt  in  the  little  ones ;  how  he  loved  to  look 
upon  these  beautiful  emblems  of  innocence  and  purity, 
and  fold  them  in  his  arms  and  bless  them  ! 

And  now  enthroned  in  Glory,  he  retains  all  the  ten- 
der sympathy  with  childhood  which  characterized  his 
earthly  ministry.  There  is  still  the  fresh  and  living 
consciousness  of  his  own  human  infancy  and  childhood. 
In  view  of  the  mysterious  union  of  the  divine  and 
human  in  Christ,  that  infantile  state  must  be  in  a  beau- 
tiful sense  a  perpetual  state ;  so  that  he  may  be  justly 
etyled  a  divine  child  —  an  eternal  child.  lie  was  thus 
viewed  by  the  inspired  apostles,  as  is  manifest  from 
Acts  iv.  27-29.  He  is  worshipped  upon  his  throne  of 
glory  by  Peter  and  John,  as  the  Holy  Child  Jesus.    How 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  45 

intensely  interesting  is  this  aspect  of  the  Saviour  in  his 
relations  to  childhood !  Because  even  childhood  is 
human,  it  must  have  sorrow ;  because  it  is  human,  it 
cannot  have  unmingled  bliss.  Children  have  their  little 
mental  and  emotional  struggles,  and  cares,  and  sorrows, 
which  sometimes  leave  a  transient  shade  of  sadness  on 
their  brow,  but  Vv'hich  they  cannot  unfold  even  to  a 
mother's  bosom.  How  inexpressibly  precious  is  the 
thought  that  Jesus  is  touched  with  a  feeling  of  their 
little  infirmities,  which  they  have  no  language  to  ex- 
press; that  there  is  One  who  can  catch  the  meaning 
of  that  shade  of  sadness  on  its  sunny  face,  and  inter- 
pret the  meaning  of  its  sighs,  and  who  is  touched  with 
a  quick,  responsive  sympathy,  for  he  Avas  once  a  little 
child,  and  is  still  the  Holy  Child  Jesus. 

There  is  something  in  this  which  has  wonderfully 
affected  the  sympathies  of  mankind;  it  has  endeared 
the  Saviour  to  the  minds  of  children,  and  invested  his 
character  with  a  transcendant  beauty  and  loveliness  to 
the  pious  of  all  ages.  By  a  natural  association  in  our 
minds,  the  "holy  child  Jesus"  has  left  a  halo  of  spi- 
ritual beauty  and  sanctity  around  the  age  of  cliildhood. 
There  seem  yet  to  linger  on  the  face  and  brow  of  little 
children  the  benedictive  smile  and  hallowinii:  touch  of 


46  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

Jesus,  when  he  took  such  in  his  arms,  and  put  his 
hands  on  them,  and  blessed  them. 

We  leave  with  reluctance  a  theme  upon  which  we 
should  love  still  to  linger ;  but  w^e  hope  to  renew  this 
contemplation  again,  if  not  on  earth,  when  we  our- 
selves are  fully  transformed  into  the  spiritual  image  of 
a  little  child,  and  shall  bow  down  to  worship  the  Eoli/ 
Child  Jesus  in  Heaven. 

The  transition  from  the  subject  of  our  thoughts  in 
this  chapter  to  the  Little  Children  of  the  l^ew  Testa- 
ment, is  natural  and  pleasant ;  a  theme  next  in  loveli- 
ness to  the  one  we  leave.     For  who  has  not  felt  the 

BEAUTY    OF    CHILDHOOD? 

There  is  an  indefinable  charm  to  our  hearts  in  a  little 
child,  in  its  pure,  unsullied  freshness,  as  if  just  coming 
from  the  hands  of  God.  It  is  so  in  part,  perhaps,  from 
an  unconscious  association  in  our  minds  with  the  divine 
child,  and  partly  from  the  pleasing  recollections  of  our 
own  childhood,  so  endeared  to  memory,  and  so  attrac- 
tive to  the  imagination. 

There  is  something  in  a  true  unperverted  childhood 
that  is  sweet  and  lovety.     Wordsworth,  in  his  "Inti- 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  47 

mations  of  Immortality  from  Recollections  of  Early 
Childhood,"  says 

"Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infoncy !" 

This  is  true  as  well  as  beautiful.  A  child  seems  embo- 
somed in  the  Infinite,  and  among  its  first  ideas  is  that 
of  the  boundless.  "  We  awaken  into  life  with  a  vague 
sense  of  its  grandeur;  we  fancy  that  we  can  reach  the 
sky  which  rests  upon  the  mountain,  but  we  soon  find 
by  experience  in  what  a  big  world  we  are  living.  The 
stars  seem  near,  and  we  think  that  we  could  grasp 
them,  but  soon  we  begin  to  suspect  the  vastness  of  the 
lighted  dome,  and  then  there  dawn  upon  our  faculties 
glimpses  of  the  measureless  universe  of  God."  It  is  a 
time  of  beautiful  illusions  and  fancies,  of  fresh  sym- 
pathy w^ith  nature  in  its  ever-varying  beauty ;  and  it  is 
because  they  renew  within  us  a  consciousness  of  our 
own  childhood,  and  with  that  consciousness  our  early 
love  of  nature,  that  they  appear  so  lovely  to  our  eyes. 

"  There  was  a  time,  when  meadow,  grove  and  stream, 
The  earth  and  every  common  sight, 
To  me  did  seem 
Apparelled  in  celestial  light, 
The  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream. 


48  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 

It  is  not  now,  as  it  hath  been  of  yore ; 
Turn  wheresoe'er  I  may, 
By  night  or  day. 
The  things  which  I  have  seen  I  now  can  see  no  more." 

How  1:rue  is  this  in  our  experience  !  as  our  childhood 
departs,  the  charm  whicli  once  invested  all  things  to 
our  youthful  fancy,  fades  into  the  light  of  common  day. 
We  feel 

"  That  there  hath  passed  away  a  glory  from  the  earth." 

And  I  need  scarcely  say  that  there  is  a  feeling  of  sad- 
ness in  this  experience  ;  we  seem  to  be  removed  farther 
from  the  heaven  that  surrounded  our  early  years.  There 
is  something  exceedingly  simple  and  touching  in  those 
lines  of  Hood,  in  which  this  feeling  of  contrast  is  ex- 
pressed : — 

"  I  remember,  I  remember 

The  fir-trees  dark  and  high, 
I  used  to  think  their  tiny  tops 

Were  close  against  the  sky; 
It  was  a  childish  ignorance, 

But  now  ftis  little  joy. 
To  know  I'm  farther  off  from  heaven 

Than  when  I  was  a  boy." 

Little  children  throw  around  us  the  simplicity  and 
beauty  of  our  own  youth,  and  thus  give  a  kind  of 


THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS.  49 

mental  permanence  to  our  own  cliildhoocl,  and  this 
makes  them  to  us  a  source  of  perpetual  pleasure ;  and 
we  realize  the  sentiments  of  "Wordsworth  in  the  Ode 
from  which  we  have  just  quoted : — 

"0  joy!  that  in  our  embers 
Is  something  that  doth  live, 
That  nature  yet  remembers 
"What  was  so  fugitive ! 
The  thought  of  our  past  years  in  me  doth  breed 
Perpetual  benediction  I " 

ISTot  for  the  delight  and  liberty,  and  simple  creed  of 
childhood;  not  for  these  only,  says  the  Poet,  did  he 
raise  his  grateful  song  of  praise — 

"But  for  those  first  affections, 

Those  shadowy  recollections, 
Which  be  they  what  they  may, 
Are  yet  the  fountain-light  of  all  our  day, 
Are  yet  a  master-light  of  all  our  seeing ; 

Uphold  us,  cherish,  and  have  power  to  mako 
Our  noisy  years  seem  moments  in  the  being 
Of  the  eternal  silence  ;  truths  that  wake. 

To  perish  never/' 

But  it  is  time  we  should  pass  to  the  pleasing  and 
edifying  pictures  of  the  Little  Children  of  the  ]^ew 
Testament. 
5 


C[iuptfr  $unnh. 


THE  LITTLE  CHILDREN  BROUGHT  TO  THE  SAVIOUR. 


Blessed  Jesus  ever  loved  to  trace 
The  innocent  brightness  of  an  infant's  face; 

He  raised  them  in  His  holy  arms, 
He  blessed  them  from  the  world  and  all  its  harms: 

Heirs  though  they  were  of  sin  and  shame, 
He  blessed  them  in  Jlis  own  and  in  His  Father's  name. — Kkble. 


"  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  God." — Jesus. 


Beautiful  is  tins  attitude  of  the  Redeemer  in  his 
relations  to  cliildren.  Beautiful  did  it  seem  to  Isaiah, 
as  it  passed  before  him  in  prophetic  vision,  eliciting 
that  touching  representation  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
imprinted  on  every  pious  heart :  "  He  shall  gather  the 
lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom." 

There  is  scarcely  to  be  found  in  sacred  history  a  more 

(60) 


THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN,    ETC.  51 

lovely  and  significaut  emblem  of  Christianity  than  that 
presented  in  this  attractive  scene. 

How  has  this  moral  picture  of  the  Gospel,  with  the 
winning  posture  of  the  Redeemer  inviting  the  approach 
of  little  children,  lived  in  Christian  memory  as  a 
*' thing  of  beauty,  and  a  joy  forever!"  And  that 
utterance  of  affectionate  welcome,  "  Suffer  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me,"  how  has  it  lingered  in  the 
heart  of  pareiital  love,  like  a  sound  of  music  from 
Heaven  ;  and  how,  through  successive  generations,  has 
it  fallen  on  the  opening  heart  and  consciousness  of 
childhood  like  tlie  gentle  dew  upon  the  opening 
flowers  of  Spring ! 

There  are  some  aspects  in  Nature  which,  once  seen, 
abide  in  the  soul  forever.  "ISTo  one  ever  forgets,"  says 
Hamilton,  ''  an  Alpine  sunset,  or  a  single  star  shining 
sweetly  in  a  cloudy  sky  at  night.^'  And  no  one,  with 
a  susceptibility  to  what  is  beautiful  in  the  moral  and 
social  aspects  of  life,  can  ever  forget  this  Gospel  picture. 
The  Saviour,  with  an  aspect  so  benignant,  with  arms 
opened  to  receive  the  little  children  and  clasp  them  to 
his  bosom  with  the  exclamation  "  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  Heaven,"  is  a  picture  of  moral  beauty  which, 
when  received  into  the  heart,  abides  there  forever. 


52  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN 

When  we  look  at  a  painting  of  great  artistic  excel- 
lence and  moral  beauty  —  such  as  the  Madonna  of 
Haphael,  or  Allston's  Jeremiah,  or  The  Descent  from 
the  Cross,  by  Guerin,  there  is  at  the  first  glance  a  feel- 
ing of  the  beautiful  —  a  delicate  flush  of  pleasure  over 
the  soul;  but  as  we  gaze,  new  thoughts  and  sugges- 
tions are  evolved.  "VVe  seem  to  catch  that  rapt  expres- 
sion of  greatful  joy  in  the  countenance  of  Mary;  we 
seem  to  understand  the  meaning  of  that  serene  and 
thoughtful  eye,  as  visions  float  before  her  of  wonders 
and  glories  to  be  unveiled  in  the  future.  And  a  writer, 
describing  the  impression  made  upon  his  mind  by  The 
Descent  from  the  Cross,  by  Gucrin,  in  the  Baltimore 
Cathedral,  says :  "  It  is  so  composed,  so  coloured,  so 
filled  with  triumphant  expression,  that  you  feel  as  you 
gaze,  that  '  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.'  " 

It  is  thus  with  this  Gospel  picture ;  the  first  glimpse 
of  it  sends  a  freshening  glow  of  pleasure  through  the 
soul,  as  when  gazing  at  some  rural  landscape  in  springs 
time,  and  we  exclaim,  "  It  is  beautiful ! " 

But  it  is  something  more.  As  we  protract  our 
view  of  this  touching  scene,  we  experience  something 
more  than  mere  transient  emotions  of  the  beautiful. 
It  is   suggestive  of  truths  of  great  practical   interest 


BnotJGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  53 

and  importance.  So  that  we  may  appropriately 
cliaracterize  this  scene  with  truths  placed  in  such 
beautiful  relations  as  "apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of 
silver." 

This  scene  to  a  thoughtful  mind  is  full  of  suggestions 
of  great  practical  interest.  The  conduct  of  the  disciples 
in  their  effort  to  intercept  the  approach  of  children  to 
Christ,  naturally  suggests  the  inquiry  whether  we  have 
never  been  guilty  of  similar  interference,  and  thereby 
incurred  the  reprehension  of  Christ.  Whilst  the  aspect 
and  conduct  of  the  Saviour  in  that  shade  of  displeasure 
on  his  calm  brow,  as  he  repulsed  the  offensive 
interference,  and  the  benignity  with  which  he  uttered 
that  affectionate  welcome  of  little  children  to  his  arms, 
are  suggestive  of  encouraging  thoughts;  thoughts 
which,  acting  in  the  way  of  motives,  may  happily  co- 
operate with  the  promptings  of  natural  affJection  in 
leading  parents  to  bring  their  children  to  the  Saviour 
for  his  blessing. 

The  whole  scope  of  its  spiritual  import  will  be  evolved 
by  a  consecutive  \iew  of  those  who  brought  children 
to  Christ,  and  those  who  interfered  with  their  beino* 
brought ;  and  the  whole  deportment  of  the  Saviour  to- 
wards these  distinctive  parties,  together  with  his  words 


'54  THE    LITTLE    CIIILDREISr 

of  welcome  and  comforting  assurance,  that  ''  of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  God." 

I.  Of  those  who  are  here  represented  as  bringing 
young  children  to  Christ,  we  know  nothing  beyond  the 
simple  fact  in  the  narrative.  The  most  natural  infer- 
ence is,  that  they  were  the  parents  of  the  children ;  but 
whether  the}^  understood  the  full  meaning  of  their  own 
act,  w^e  do  not  know ;  whether  it  was  the  mere  instinct 
of  natural  affection,  prompting  them  to  bring  their 
children  with  some  undefined  hope  of  securing  a  bless- 
ing; or  whether,  having  caught  the  spreading  rumors 
of  the  Eedeemer's  fame,  and  of  his  gentle  condescen- 
sion to  little  children,  taking  them  in  his  arms  and 
blessing  them,  and  were  thus  moved  to  bring  theii;  chil- 
dren for  his  benediction,  we  are  unable  to  determine, 
in  the  absence  of  any  detailed  account  in  the  Gospel 
narrative.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  feelings 
or  motives  prompting  them  in  this  procedure,  the  act 
itself  received  the  most  decisive  sanction  of  the  Ke- 
deemer,  and  stands  immortalized  in  Gospel  history  as  a 
eacred  symbol  of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  parental  love, 
conducting  their  tender  offspring  to  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  It  is  thus  preserved  in  sacred  history  as  both 
an  example  and  an  encouragement  to  parents  to  bring 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  55 

their  children  to  Christ,  with  the  assurance  that  their 
offering  will  meet  with  a  like  reception,  and  secure  a 
similar  Messing,  for  "  He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever." 

II.  The  conduct  of  the  disciples  who  ''  rebuked  those 
that  brought  young  chikben,"  is  deserving  of  special 
notice. 

Their  conduct  in  the  view  of  Christ  was  equivalent 
to  a  forbidding  of  little  children  to  come  to  him.  In 
the  absence  of  scriptural  data,  we  are  incompetent  to 
determine  the  precise  form  of  this  interference.  Per- 
haps it  was  a  look  that  frowned  the  little  ones  back,  or 
a  significant  gesture  of  the  hand,  or  a  word  of  rebuke, 
or  some  compulsory  act  intercepting  their  progress,  we 
know  not.  But  whatever  the  specific  form  of  their 
conduct,  it  was  substantially  a  forbidding  of  little  chil- 
dren to  come  to  the  Saviour,  as  is  manifest  from  the 
consequent  reprehension  of  the  disciples  by  Christ,  and 
his  invitation.  Suffer  them  to  come,  and  forbid  them 
not. 

It  may  serve  to  quicken  our  interest  in  this  fact  to 
observe,  that  the  persons  censured  as  interdicting  the 
access  of  little  children  to  Christ,  were  his  own  disci- 
ples.   If  it  had  proceeded  from  the  self-righteous  Scribes 


56  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN 

or  Pharisees,  or  any  of  the  unbeheving  Jews  who  dis- 
carded the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  there  would  be  httle 
to  awaken  our  sui-prise,  or  to  justify  any  further  inquiry 
into  the  reason  of  their  conduct ;  for  it  w^ould  be  suffi- 
ciently obvious  without  such  inquiry.  But  that  his 
disciples,  through  some  perversion  of  judgment,  some 
misconception  of  his  kingdom,  or  some  sudden,  erratic 
impulse  of  passion,  should  interpose,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  keeping  young  children  from  Christ,  ex- 
cites our  wonder. 

The  fact  awakens  our  attention,  and  excites  inquiry 
into  the  probable  reason  or  feelings  that  influenced 
them  in  this  unexpected  procedure.  The  inquiry  is  not 
only  natural  but  important,  in  order  that  we  may  guard 
against  anything  in  our  sentiments  and  deportment  that 
might  admit  of  a  similar  construction,  and  be  produc- 
tive of  results  practically  repelling  the  approach  of 
little  children  to  the  Saviour. 

The  usual  explanation  of  their  conduct  is  that  which 
refers  it  to  a  feeling  of  Idndness  for  their  Lord.  Jesus 
^'went  about  doing  good,"  and  was  often  weary  and 
worn  with  the  incessant  demands  upon  his  loving  heart 
and  toiling  hands;  and  the  disciples,  from  a  natural 
sympathy,  wished  to  spare  him  this  addition  to  hia 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  57 

labours.  Tliey  perhaps  reasoned  that  if  the  practice 
of  brino'ino:  little  children  to  Christ,  with  the  vaofiie 
notion  of  receiving  some  blessing  from  him,  should  be- 
come universal,  there  would  be  no  end  to  his  toils  and 
interruptions;  and,  with  a  view  of  arresting  at  once 
such  a  tendency,  they  impulsively  interposed  to  prevent 
such  a  result. 

Although  this  may  be  admitted  as  the  proximate 
reason,  there  was,  we  conceive,  something  back  of  this  ; 
some  ulterior  feeling,  in  which  we  must  expect  to  find 
the  real  cause  of  their  conduct.  They  had  but  imper- 
fect conceptions  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom,  and  the 
relations  of  children  to  that  kingdom.  Their  ideas  of 
that  kingdom  led  them  to  infer  that  there  vras  little  or 
no  use  in  this  formal  presentation  of  children  to  Christ 
for  his  blessing ;  and  therefore  it  was  a  useless  imposi- 
tion upon  his  time  and  labors.  It  seems  from  the 
several  accounts  in  the  Gospel,  that  these  children  were 
not  diseased,  or  blind,  or  deaf;  for,  in  that  event,  w^e 
could  scarcely  conceive  it  possible  that  the  disciples 
should  present  such  an  interference.  Had  these  chil- 
dren been  blind,  or  sick,  or  deaf,  the  disciples  could 
not  have  objected  to  their  presentation  to  Jesus,  wdio 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind  T\nth  a  touch,  and  healed 


58  '   THE    LITTLE    C 11 ILDE EN 

the  sick  with  a  word.  It  would  have  been  so  ohvioiislj^ 
within  the  appropriate  sphere  of  his  mission,  that  the 
disciples,  so  far  from  rebuking  the  parents,  would  have 
co-operated  with  them  in  bringing  their  children  to  the 
Great  Pliysician.  But  what  use  could  there  be  in 
bringing  these  sound  and  healthy  children  to  the  Sa- 
viour to  receive  his  miraculous  touch  ? 

This  view,  we  conceive,  presents  a  satisfactory  solu- 
tion of  this  singular  conduct  of  the  disciples.  They 
regarded  these  children  as  too  young  to  receive  any 
spiritual  blessing  ;  and,  as  they  were  not  afflicted  with 
any  physical  malady,  this  act  of  bringing  them  to  the 
Saviour  was,  in  tlieir  view,  a  mere  idle  form  and  super- 
stitious ceremony.  With  these  views  of  the  case,  they 
were  prompted  from  feelings  of  kindness  to  their  Lord 
to  prevent  this  additional  imposition  of  cares  upon  a 
life  that  was  already  burdened  wuth  sorrow  and  wea- 
ried with  toil. 

That  the  disciples  erred,  both  in  their  views  and  con- 
duct, in  this  instance,  is  evident  from  the  Saviour's 
words  and  manner. 

Assuming  the  explanation  of  the  disciples'  conduct 
just  given,  and  it  seems  the  only  one  that  is  wholly 
satisfactory,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  we,  though  occupying 


BROUGHT  TO  THE  SAVIOUR.         59 

a  somewhat  different  religious  stand-point,  may  incur 
the  Saviour's  displeasure,  by  sentiments  and  deport- 
ment of  like  tendency  and  effect,  though  differing 
from  theirs  in  form  and  expression. 

If  they  were  influenced  in  this  interference  by  the 
impression  that  the  children  were  too  young  to  receive 
any  spiritual  blessing,  and  the  act  of  the  parents  in 
bringing  them,  therefore  an  unwarranted  obtrusion 
upon  the  time  of  their  Lord ;  how  easily  may  we,  from 
mistaken  views  of  early  religious  education,  practically 
prevent  little  children  from  going  to  Christ.    ' 

If  under  the  idea  that  the  child  is  too  young  to  re- 
ceive religious  instructions  and  impressions,  we  neglect 
the  earliest  religious  consciousness  of  the  child,  and 
defer  its  moral  culture  until  it  is  older  and  more  sus- 
ceptible, as  we  imagine,  of  rehgious  truth,  are  we  not 
virtually  keeping  that  child  from  the  Saviour  ?  and  that 
too  under  a  delusion  similar  to  that  which  influenced 
the  conduct  of  the  disciples. 

It  is  of  course  a  very  delicate  point  to  determine  the 
precise  time  for  the  initial  process  of  instruction  and 
discipline,  as  it  will  vary  in  different  children.  But 
,this  position  may  be  safely  assumed,  that  as  soon  as 
there  are  indications  of  intelligent  consciousness  in  the 


60  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN 

child,  and  the  exhibitions  of  evil  tempers  and  passions, 
there  should  begin  some  mode  of  instruction  intelligible 
to  childhood ;  some  check  and  control  that  will  indi- 
cate to  the  young  heart  the  right  and  the  wrong  exer- 
cise of  its  opening  powers  and  aifections.  That  this 
process  of  discipline  may  begin  at  a  very  early  age, 
will  appear  obvious  to  those  who  notice  how  soon  the 
instinctive  power  of  affection  is  capable  of  being  de- 
veloped into  conscious  love  under  the  sunny  influence 
of  a  mother's  smile.  "  The  child's  affection  gets  de- 
veloped on  the  smallest  scale  at  first.  The  mother's 
love  tempts  forth  the  son's ;  he  loves  the  bosom  that 
feeds  him,  the  lips  that  caress,  the  person  that  loves. 
Soon  the  circle  widens,  and  includes  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  familiar  friends;  then  gradually  enlarges 
more  and  more,  the  affections  strengthening  as  their 
empire  spreads."  And  just  as  the  child  is  thus  early 
taught  to  love,  it  may  be  simultaneously  made  the 
subject  of  the  gentle  and  chastening  discipline  of  love. 
And  although  this  early  discipline  may  not  in  itself  be 
stjdcd  bringing  the  child  to  Christ,  it  is  unquestionably 
a  preparative  to  that  end.  Whatever  tends  in  early 
life  to  check  evil  tempers,  and  subdue  unholy  passions, 
and   exercise   a  proper  control    over   the    expanding 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  61 

powers,  and  gives  a  light  development  to  tlie  budding 
affections,  will  subsequently  facilitate  the  progress  of 
the  soul  to  him  who  is  the  truth  and  the  life. 

So  that  if  we  neglect  this  early  discipline  and  con- 
trol— if,  either  through  a  criminal  indifference,  or  from 
the  impression  that  the  child  is  too  young  to  be  the 
subject  of  instruction  and  discipline,  we  omit  the  deli- 
cate nurture  of  the  expanding  mind  and  affections,  it 
will  be  in  effect,  though  not  consciously,  withholding 
the  child  from  Christ. 

Another  way  in  which  it  is  possible  to  commit  the 
practical  error  of  the  disciples,  and  like  them,  incur  the 
reprehension  of  Jesus,  is  the  adoption  of  some  other 
books  in  the  place  of  the  Bible,  for  the  instruction  of 
childhood.  There  seems  to  be  a  prevalent  idea  that 
the  Bible  is  not  exactly  the  book  for  a  little  child.  It 
must  have  something  simpler;  books  more  specially 
adapted  to  its  limited  range  of  thought;  '^ books  of 
which  the  authors  are  wiser  than  inspired  prophets  and 
apostles,  as  knowing  better  how  to  make  great  truths 
acceptable  and  intelligible.  They  cannot  trust  God  to 
bless  his  own  word,  but  imagine  that  word  unsuited  to 
the  capacities  of  children  ;  and  they  seek  for  writers  to 
dilute  and  simplify  the  word,  ridding  it  of  mysterie,^; 


62  THE    LITTLE    CillLDEEN 

and  adapting  it  to  juvenile  understandings.  This  is 
virtually  withholding  the  children  from  Christ ;  it  is 
requiri]ig,  with  the  disciples,  that  they  grow  older,  and 
better  able  to  understand  the  mission  of  the  Saviour, 
before  they  come  to  him  for  his  blessing." 

This  was  not  the  idea  of  Eunice,  in  the  education  of 
her  little  son  Timothy.  She  began  his  education  with 
the  Holy  Scriptures — "  not  simplified  versions  or  story- 
illustrations  of  the  Bible,  with  the  hard  things  left  out, 
and  the  dark  things  made  plain,  but  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures." She  believed  that  He  who  made  the  Bible, 
made  the  mind  of  her  little  child,  and  knew  infinitely 
better  how  to  adapt  the  one  to  the  other  than  all  the 
genius  and  tact  of  modern  book-makers.  And  the 
practical  result  of  her  course  is  a  demonstration  of  its 
wisdom.  The  inspired  apostle  says  to  Timothy,  "  from 
a  child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which 
are  able  to  make  thee  wdse  unto  salvation,  through 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  In  which  he  not  only 
gives  his  sanction  to  the  method  of  instruction  adopted 
by  Timothy's  mother,  but  asserts  its  happy  tendency 
in  the  child  by  the  practical  result  in  the  man. 

Let  us  imitate  this  example  of  Eunice.  Let  us  not 
reckon  the  cliild  too  young  to  be  brought  at  once  in 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  63 

contact  with  the  sublime  yet  simple  truths  of  the 
Bible,  and  through  them  to  the  great  Teacher.  Let  us 
trust  God  as  best  competent  to  furnish  truth  for  the 
infant  mind.  BCe  who  has  displayed  such  wisdom  in 
the  various  and  wonderful  adaptations  of  Kature, 
cannot  fail  here.  He  who  gives  to  the  thirsty  beetle  its 
sparkling  dewdrop,  can  give  to  the  infant  mind  its 
needed  truth  and  spiritual  aliment.  He  who  has  so 
studiously  cared  for  the  one,  will  not  overlook  the 
other.  It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  the  Father  of 
Spirits  could  not  teach  the  infant  spirit  in  its  incipient 
germinations,  just  as  easily  and  beautifully  as  he 
tempers  the  rough  wind  to  a  zephyr  to  breathe  upon  the 
life  of  a  violet ;  or  if  He  could  not  cause  his  truth  to 
descend  upon  the  opening  mind  of  childhood  in  as 
gentle  distillations  as  the  dews  of  morning  upon  the 
unfolding  flowers  of  Spring. 

1:^0 w  we  find  in  the  Bible  just  this  adaptation 
which  analogical  reasoning  would  lead  us  to  expect. 
"Whilst  minds  of  the  finest  mould  and  most  excursive 
thought  find  truths  to  instruct  and  interest,  and  heights 
which  they  cannot  scale,  and  depths  they  are  unable  to 
fathom,  leaving  them  ever  to  wonder  and  adore ;  there 
is  yet  with  all  this  a  simplicity  that  interests  the  minds 


64  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREI>r 

of  children.  It  abounds  in  touching  incidents  and 
poetry,  beautiful  narratives,  and  biography  and  para- 
bles, such  as  cannot  fail  to  be  both  attractive  and 
instructive  to  the  mind  of  a  child.  The  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son  is  so  simple  and  touching  in  its  structure 
and  incident,  as  to  seem  especially  intended  to  instruct 
and  affect  little  children.  This  peculiarity  of  the 
Scriptures  has  struck  all  thoughtful  minds.  Barnes, 
speaking  of  this  feature  of  adaptation  in  the  Bible  to 
youthful  minds,  says  :  ^'  It  is  for  reasons  such  as  these 
that  we  suppose  that  the  Christian  system,  with  all  that 
is  great  and  profound  in  it,  has  continued  to  inweave 
into  itself  an  arrangement  contemplating  the  m^ind  of 
a  child." 

It  is  true  there  are  mysteries  in  the  Bible,  and  the 
parent  will  often  be  perplexed  by  the  curious  and  pro- 
found questionings  of  childhood.  For  children  will 
propose  difficulties  suggested  to  their  minds,  which  no 
theologist  can  answer.  But  let  not  such  parts  of  the 
Bible  be  avoided  and  x>assed  over  because  they  do  not 
admit  of  explanation.  The  Psalmist  says,  "Thy 
righteousness  is  like  the  great  mountains;  thy  judg- 
ments are  a  great  deep."  And  in  the  study  of  the 
Bible  we  will  come  to  these  mountains  and  this  ocean. 


BEOUGIIT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  65 

The  idea  in  the  mind  of  David,  in  the  use  of  these 
natural  emblems,  was  that  of  vastness  and  immensity 
in  the  perfections  and  judgments  of  the  Almighty. 
And  the  true  course  in  the  instruction  of  a  child  is  not 
to  avoid  them,  but  come  right  up  to  them;  not  to 
scale  the  one  or  measure  the  other,  but  to  look  up  the 
majestic  heights  and  out  upon  the  vast  deep,  to  wonder 
and  adore.  Say  to  the  child  at  once  that  this  is  a 
myster}^  Meet  its  questionings  v/ith  the  frank  confes- 
sions of  ignorance.  For  in  most  cases  in  the  Bible, 
what  is  a  mystery  to  a  child  is  a  mystery  also  to  a  man. 
The  origin  of  Sin,  the  Incarnation,  the  Trinity,  &c.,  are 
almost  as  much  beyond  the  grasp  of  a  I^ewton  or 
Edwards,  as  the  feeble  thought  of  a  child. 

We  should,  therefore,  begin  at  once  with  the  Bible ; 
and  when  we  meet  with  what  is  mysterious,  tell  the 
child  we  are  unable  to  explain  it  now,  and  that  we 
receive  it  simply  as  a  fact  of  God's  word  which  tran- 
scends our  present  limited  sphere  of  thought,  and  that 
we  expect  to  understand  more  about  it  hereafter.  This 
confession  of  ignorance  to  the  child  asking  for  reasons 
upon  subjects  which  lie  beyond  the  range  of  reason-  — 
this  implicit  submission  of  reason  to  revelation,  will 
nave  a  happy  effect  upon  the  subsequent  experience  of 


66  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN" 

the  child  when  it  is  called  to  grapple  with  the  gveai 
truths  of  Eevelation.  ''  If,  after  the  fashion  of  many 
juvenile  books,  you  strive  to  make  intelligible  what 
ought  to  be  left  mysterious,  you  do  but  nourish  in  the 
child  the  notion  that  he  is  competent  to  understand  all 
truth,  and  prepare  him  for  skepticism,  if  he  finds  him- 
self in  riper  years  called  upon  to  submit  his  reason  to 
his  faith.  "Whereas,  if  you  begin  at  once  what  he  must 
come  to  at  last,  the  reception  of  truth,  because  God 
hath  said  it,  though  man  cannot  explain  it,  you  do  the 
best  to  cherish  in  him  a  reverence  for  the  majesty  of 
Scripture  —  to  train  him  up  in  those  habits  of  mental 
submission ;  the  want  of  which  so  frequently  makes 
the  skeptic — the  presence  of  w^hich  is  indispensable  tc 

the  believer." 

Whilst,  therefore,  w^e  are  not  to  discard  the  subsi^ 
diary  helps  of  the  many  excellent  juvenile  works,  the 
Bible  must  be  the  great  text-book  in  the  religious 
education  of  the  child.  We  must  begin,  progress,  and 
end  with  the  Bible. 

Kow  in  both  of  the  ways  mentioned  we  may  virtually 
imitate  the  example  of  the  disciples,  by  omitting  the 
earhest  practicable  period  for  beginning  the  religious 
education  of  the  child,  and  the  substitution  of  other 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  {J i 

books  in  the  place  of  the  Bible,  under  the  mistaken 
idea  that  it  is  too  young  for  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

In  regard  to  the  former,  it  must  be  obvious  that,  as 
the  child  is  born  in  sin,  and  its  first  tendencies  will  be 
to  evil,  its  religious  education  should  begin  with  the 
first  gleams  of  intelligent  consciousness. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  poetical  representations 
of  the  beauty  and  innocence  of  childhood,  that  we 
almost  forget  the  latent  evil  that  lies  slumbering 
beneath  the  fair  and  T\^nning  exterior.  We  forget 
that  the  germs  of  all  that  is  revolting  in  the  monster 
of  iniquity  may  lie  folded  behind  faces  of  almost 
cherubic  beauty.  And  although  in  early  infancy  there 
may  be  little  that  is  symptomatic  of  that  moral  virus 
which  taints  our  humanity^  still  we  know  that  it  is  in 
the  child  —  that  it  is  yet  in  embryo,  but  will  manifest 
itself  in  a  sinful  development  with  the  expansion  of  its 
mind  and  moral  nature.  The  very  pirate  that  crimsons 
the  ocean  wave  with  the  blood  of  his  defenceless 
victim  in  some  lonely  sea,  was  once  a  little  child,  the 
object  of  parental  love  and  domestic  endearment.  The 
condemned  criminal  doomed  to  death,  was  once  an 
infant,  resting  its  head  upon  a  mother's  bosom,  smiling 
as  the  very  incarnation  of  beauty. 


68  THE    LITTLE    CHILDHEN 

With  this  assumption  of  the  child's  inherent  depravity, 
it  is  obvious  that  its  rehgious  education  should  begin 
at  the  earliest  possible  period;  and  that  this  process 
of  education  should  be  begun  and  prosecuted  under 
the  divine  teachings  of  the  Bible.  This  Divine  book 
should  not  be  displaced  by  the  substitution  of  other 
books  professing  to  simplify  and  render  attractive  the 
truths  of  Scripture,  as  though  the  Bible  could  not  be 
made  intelligible  and  interesting  to  children.  We 
should  feel  assured  that  there  is  no  posture  ever  for  a 
child  more  appropriate  than  that  of  Mary  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus,  hearing  the  v^ords  of  the  Master  himself. 
^-Ilis  words,  and  those  which  his  spirit  inspired,  are 
far  more  likely  to  reach  and  work  upon  the  heart  of  a 
child — -his  words  in  their  own  majesty,  ay,  and 
mystery — than  when  pared  down,  and  paraphrased,  and 
simplified  by  processes  of  modern  book-making." 

E'ow  if  we  neglect  the  earliest  season  for  beginning 
the  process  of  religious  instruction  and  discipline,  or  if 
we  discard  the  Bible  and  resort  to  other  sources  of 
instruction,  under  the  idea  that  the  child  is  too  young 
to  be  brought  directly  to  Christ,  we  virtually  repeat  the 
very  conduct  of  the  disciples,  who  re])uked  those  that 
brought  children  to  the  Saviour,  and  like  them  cannot 
fail  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  our  Lord. 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  69 

in.  The  manner  in  wliich  the  Saviour  rebuked  the 
interference  of  the  disciples,  serves  to  illustrate  more 
fully  the  points  under  consideration. 

The  conduct  of  the  disciples  was  exceedingly  offensive 
to  Jesus.  "  He  was  much  displeased."  The  original  is 
expressive  of  great  indignation.  No  word  could 
indicate  more  strongly  the  deep  abhorrence  of  the 
Saviour  to  such  interference  with  those  who  were  con- 
ducting the  little  children  to  him.  It  serves  to  present 
this  subject  in  a  very  solemn  light,  when  we  consider 
"that  in  a  life  of  constant  encounter  with  evil,  of 

■v 

opposition  from  enemies,  of  desertion  by  friends,  our 
Lord  should  have  been  only  once  known  to  be  much 
displeased,  and  that  once  in  the  scene  before  us.  It 
presents  this  subject  in  the  most  solemn  and  startling 
light;  that  in  all  the  life  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Redeemer,  we  never  find  him  much  displeased  but 
once ;  and  that  one  outburst  of  unmixed  indignation 
and  displeasure  was  when  they  would  prevent  those 
who  brought  little  children  to  him." 

The  fact  itself  is  sufficiently  startling  to  arrest  the 
serious  and  prayerful  attention  of  every  parent. 

The  language  of  the  Saviour,  you  perceive,  refers  not 
so  much  to  the  positive  duty  of  bringing  the  little  chil- 


70  THE    LITTLE     CHILDREN 

clren  to  Mm,  as  to  tlie  avoidance  of  what  might  prove 
an  obstriTction  in  their  way,  and  the  removal  of  every 
impediment  over  which  their  httle  feet  might  stumble. 
The  expression  "  suffer"  them  to  come,  involves  the 
idea  that  they  would  go  to  the  Saviour  if  they  were  not 
hindered ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how  we  may  uncon- 
sciously prevent  little  children  in  their  first  attractions 
to  Christ.  How  early  may  a  child  feel  its  heart  gravi- 
tating to  Him  who  is  the  Light  and  Life  of  the  world ! 
Drawn  perhaps  by  the  story  of  his  life,  so  simple  and 
beautiful,  or  the  touching  scenes  of  the  garden  and  the 
cross,  that  have  often  won  the  sympathy  of  childhood ! 
How  possible  for  a  little  child,  made  familiar  with  the 
Gospel  story,  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
to  feel  sweetly  attracted  to  the  Saviour!  And  how 
easily  may  such  a  tendency  be  counteracted  by  coldness 
and  indifference,  by  a  neglect  to  foster  the  first  germs 
of  religious  thought  and  feeling !  Children  are  remark- 
ably quick  in  their  perception  of  character,  and  if  they 
see  a  bad  example  in  their  parents,  whom  they  are 
naturally  disposed  to  regard  as  models  of  all  excellen- 
cies, and  in  whom  they  so  affx3ctionately  confide,  they 
are  embarrassed  and  discouraged ;  all  their  notions  of 
religion  are  confused,  and   consequently  inoperative. 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  71 

If  tliey  are  siirrounded  with  an  atmospliere  of  worlclli- 
ness  and  irreligion,  with  no  gentle  words  of  direction 
and  encouragement  and  prayer,  how  inevitably  will 
such  a  state  of  things  extinguish  the  first  dawnings  of 
divine  light  in  the  soul,  and  chill  the  first  pulsations  of 
spiritual  love  in  the  heart ! 

If  by  our  example  or  our  neglect,  or  in  any  way,  we 
interfere  with  the  first  attraction  of  the  young  heart  to 
the  Saviour,  or  if  by  the  omission  of  such  aids  and 
positive  influences  as  it  needs  in  that  important  crisis, 
Ave  do  not  encourage  and  facilitate  its  progress  to  Christ, 
we  virtuallj  repeat  the  very  conduct  of  the  disciples  in 
this  scene  ;  we  may  be  justly  charged  with  not  suftering 
it  to  go.  And  what  parental  heart  does  not  instinctively 
shrink  from  the  very  thought  of  keeping  a  little  child 
from  the  Saviour  ? 

The  other  form  of  expression,  "Forbid  them  not," 
may  indicate  a  more  direct  and  positive  influence.  If, 
instead  of  fostering  and  encouraging  the  early  religious 
impressions  and  tendencies  of  childhood,  there  is  adopt- 
ed a  course  of  education  and  life  for  the  child  that 
is  hostile  to  religion,  that  tends  to  divert  the  mind 
from  serious  things,  and  check  the  first  outgushing 
of  the  young  heart  after  Christ,  this  would  be  practi- 


T2  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN 

cally  forbidding  the  children  to  go  to  the  inviting  Sa- 
viour. 

Sometimes  tlie  whole  spirit  and  economy  of  the  do- 
mestic life,  the  very  atmosphere  of  home,  is  such  as 
effectually  to  exclude  all  thoughts  of  Christ,  and  all 
sense  of  the  paramount  claims  of  religion.  The  amuse- 
ments, the  plans,  the  conversation,  are  all  V70rldly.  The 
child  detects  in  the  parents  a  greater  concern  for  its 
smartness  or  graceful  accomplishments,  than  for  any 
manifestations  of  piety.  The  impression  made  upon 
its  mind  is,  that  religion  is  not  the  one  thing  needful ; 
that  there  are  other  things  in  the  estimation  of  the 
parents  that  are  of  prior  and  more  imperative  claims 
than  going  to  Christ :  and  the  practical  tendency  is  a 
forbidding  it  to  go ;  for  in  effect  it  is  essentially  the 
same,  "  Vvdiethcr  the  child  be  told  not  to  come  to  Christ 
at  all,  or  whether  he  be  told  to  go  to  some  one  else 
first." 

It  is  a  serious  charge  to  prefer  against  even  Christian 
parents,  that  they  will  not  "  suffer  little  children" — that 
they  "forbid  them" — to  go  to  the  Saviour;  and  yet  it 
may  be  as  true  as  it  is  sad  and  affecting. 

"When  we  consider  the  many  hindrances  that  are  put 
in  tl)e  way  of  children — the  many  obstructions  that  are 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUE.  73 

not  removed  from  their  path — when  we  see  in  many  ti 
professedly  Christian  home  the  predominance  of  a 
worldly  spirit  and  worldly  associations,  and  the  neglect 
of  direct  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  the  little  children — 
it  is  by  no  means  an  unwarranted  or  uncharitable  in- 
ference, "that  many  who  imagine  they  are  bringing 
their  chilclren  to  Christ  may  not  be  suffering  them  to 
go ;  and  some  who  are  ostensibly  urging  them  to  go, 
may  be  all  the  while  forbidding  them." 

Let  me  plead  for  the  "little  ones"  that  would  go  to 
Christ  if  they  were  not  hindered ;  if  they  were  encou- 
raged and  assisted.  And  with  whom  shall  we  urge  our 
plea,  if  not  v^ith  Christian  parents  ?  Think  of  the 
sacred  and  responsible  relation  you  sustain  to  your 
children ;  that  they  have  been  entrusted  to  you,  with 
the  divine  charge,  "  Take  this  child  away  and  nurse  it 
for  me;"  think  how  confidingly  they  look  to  you  for 
direction  and  safety,  and  how  certainly  it  is  your  office 
to  give  to  their  expanding  minds  and  budding  affec- 
tions a  Christ-ward  and  heaven-ward  direction.  Look 
upon  them,  in  all  their  confiding  simplicity  and  love, 
and  betray  not  their  innocent  trust. 

See  on  the  one  hand  the  blessed  Saviour,  in  the 
lovely  and  attractive  attitude  of  this  scene,  with  open 
7 


74  THE     LITTLE    CHILDREN 

arms,  and  the  afiectionate  welcome,  saying,  "  Suffer  tlie 
little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not;" 
and  on  the  other  your  little  ones,  with  hearts  gently  drawn 
and  ready  to  rush  to  the  open  arms  of  the  Eedeemer:  and 
can  you  forbid  them  ?  Can  you  hinder  them  ?  'No  ; 
every  instinct  of  natural  affection — every  sense  of  reli- 
ligious  obligation  —  prompts  the  emphatic  response, 
Never !  And  every  parental  heart  with  an  instinctive 
repulsion  of  the  thought,  echoes,  ISTever,  no  never ! 

Then  do  not  practically  what  in  thought  you  repu- 
diate with  such  unmingled  abhorrence.  Do  not,  by  an 
irreligious  example,  or  by  your  neglect  of  appropriate 
and  timely  instruction,  or  by  restraining  prayer  before 
God,  prevent  the  little  ones  from  going  to  Christ.  By 
all  the  love  you  bear  them  —  by  all  your  love  for  the 
Saviour  —  by  all  that  is  stirring  in  the  spiritual  destiny 
of  your  children  —  and  by  all  that  is  fearful  in  the  re- 
tributions of  Eternity  —  suffer  them  to  go  and  forbid 
them  not.  For,  "  whosoever  shall  offend  one  of  these 
little  ones  which  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  that  a 
millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were 
drowned  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  * 

*  The  mention  of  faith  in  the  little  ones  shows,  that  the  childlike 
believer  is  primarily  intended.    But  the  inference  is  inevitable  that 


BROUGHT    TO    THE    SAVIOUR.  75 

How  solemn  is  the  appeal  of  tHs  subject  to  irreligious 
parents !  If  3'ou  live  in  tlie  neglect  of  religion,  with 
no  obvious  concern  for  the  soul,  with  no  public  pro- 
fession of  Christ  as  your  Lord  and  Saviour,  what  can 
you  expect  from  your  children  ?  You  would  not  per- 
haps by  any  formal  act  interdict  religion  to  your  loved 
ones ;  you  may  even  express  a  wish  for  their  piety ;  but 
how  can  a  child  feel  the  importance  of  piety  with  the 
influence  of  an  irreligious  father  and  a  prayerless  mo- 
ther before  it  ?  Are  you  not  practically  keeping  your 
children  from  Christ  ?  virtually  forbidding  them  to  go  ? 
Perhaps  that  young  heart  felt  the  gentle  drawings  of  a 
Saviour's  love,  and  under  the  touches  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  w^as  ready  to  go  to  Jesus  ;  but  that  first  tendency 
was  checked ;  that  first  throbbing  of  the  heart  chilled, 
and  the  youthful  spirit  repulsed ;  and  that  by  a  father 
or  a  mother,  who  would  not  suffer  it  to  go  to  Jesus. 
O  !  rather  bare  your  bosom  to  the  lightnings  of  heaven, 

the  regard  of  the  Saviour  for  the  little  children,  to  whom  he  com- 
pares the  humble  believer,  cannot  be  less  than  for  the  believer  him- 
self. And,  for  obvious  reasons,  the  giving  offence  to  a  little  child, 
causing  it  to  stumble,  must  be  an  act  of  greater  turpitude  than  a 
similar  offence  committed  against  an  adult  believer.  So  that  the 
passage,  in  all  its  solemn  import,  is  applicable  to  those  who  literally 
offend  one  of  these  little  ones. 


76  THE    LITTLE    CHILDREN,    ETC. 

than  stiincT  in  the  way  of  a  Httle  child,  and  frown  it 
back  from  the  inviting  arms  of  the  Saviour  1 

I  know  that,  loving  your  children  as  you  do,  you  re- 
coil from  such  an  interference.  You  would  not,  for  the 
world,  wilfully  imperil  the  salvation  of  joiiv  child. 
But,  in  your  own  practical  neglect  of  religion,  you  are, 
however  unconsciously,  keeping  that  child  from  Christ. 
Look  round  upon  your  Christless  and  prayerless  home, 
and  the  little  ones  that  cluster  around  you  so  lovingly 
and  confidingly,  and  can  you  betray  their  innocent  trust 
and  affection?  0,  if  no  other  plea  can  prevail — if  no 
other  "  argument  can  draw  you  to  God,"  look  into  the 
face  of  your  little  ones,  "  and  let  these  dear  living  argu- 
ments come  into  your  soul  and  prevail  there." 


C{ju|iter  ^^irh. 


THE   CHILDREN   IN  THE   TEMPLE, 


"And  wlien  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  saw  the  wonderful  things  that  ho 
did,  and  the  children  crying  in  the  temple,  and  saying,  Ilosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David,  they  were  sore  displeased." — Matthew. 


"Then  waken  into  sound  divine 
The  very  pavement  of  thy  shrine, 
Till  we,  like  Heaven's  star-sprinkled  floor, 
Faintly  give  back  what  we  adore. 
Child-like  though  the  voices  be, 
And  untunable  the  parts. 
Thou  wilt  own  the  minstrelsy. 
If  it  flow  from  child-like  hearts." — Keble. 


This  chant  of  youthful  voices  iii  the  temple  was  a 
beautiful  tribute  from  children  to  their  Infinite  Friend. 
It  was  meet  that  children,  so  richly  blessed  in  the 
Saviour's  mission,  should  bear  a  part  in  his  triumph, 
and  help  to  swell  the  praises  of  Zion's  King.     And 

T  *  m 


78  THE    CHILBllEN    IN    THE    TEMPLE, 

grateful  must  it  have  been  to  the  Man  of  sorrows  to  be 
thus  cheered  by  the  sweet  songs  of  childhood,  in  the 
near  prospect  of  Gethsemane  and  the  Cross. 

The  hosanna  of  the  children  in  the  Temple  is  a 
touching  and  significant  prelude  to  the  sublime  and 
tragical  death-scene  of  Calvary.  But  it  is  not  simply  as 
an  afiecting  incident  in  the  history  of  the  Saviour  that 
this  temple  scene  claims  our  attention,  l>ut  as  suggestive 
of  important  reflections  upon  the  early  religious 
instruction  of  children. 

We  are  not  informed  in  the  narrative  how  these 
children  happened  to  be  in  the  temple  at  this  particular 
time ;  w^hether  the}^  had  been  attracted  by  the  multi- 
tude and  the  unusual  circumstances  of  the  occasion,  or 
conducted  thither  by  their  pious  parents.  'Nor  are 
we  informed  of  the  feelings  which  prompted  their 
*' Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David;"  whether  it  was  from 
a  sympathetic  enthusiasm  inspired  by  the  shouts  of  the 
multitude,  or  a  supernatural  impulse  imparted  to  them 
at  the  moment,  or,  what  is  perhaps  the  most  reasonable 
conjecture,  that  it  proceeded  from  both  of  these 
sources,  combined  with  some  idea  of  the  Messiah 
which  they  had  derived  from  their  parents. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  immediate  occasion 


THE  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TEMPLE.      79 

of  this  acclamation  from  the  chilclrcD,  it  is  obvious  that 
their  hosaniia  was  not  a  childish  imitation  of  the 
maltitucle  — a  mere  echo  of  the  shout  in  the  streets. 
If  it  had  been  merely  such  a  senseless  repetition,  the 
Saviour  would  not  have  received  it  as  a  grateful  tribute 
to  himselfj  and  referred  to  the  passage  in  the  Psalms  to 
explain  and  justify  it.  ISTor  would  such  a  childish 
imitation  have  av/akened  the  fears  and  displeasure  of 
the  priests  and  scribes.  They  were  manifestly  greatly 
annoyed  by  this  juvenile  demonstration  of  joy.  They 
appealed  to  Christ  in  the  tones  of  complaint  and 
censure,  as  if  he  ought  to  check  those  gushing  shouts 
of  the  children  that  were  sounding  through  the  temple. 
"  Hearest  thou  what  these  say  ?  And  Jesus  saith  unto 
them,  Yea ;  have  ye  never  read.  Out  of  the  mouth  of 
babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected  praise  ? " 

A  careful  analysis  of  the  feelings  and  apprehensions 
of  these  scribes,  awakened  by  the  hosanna  of  the 
children,  and  the  Scriptural  quotation  adduced  by 
the  Saviour  as  explanatory  of  their  youthful  praises, 
furnish  a  most  striking  testimonial  to  the  power  of 
early  religioub  education,  and  the  important  instrumen- 
tality of  children  in  the  extension  of  the  Eedeemer's 
kingdom. 


BO      THE  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TEMPLE. 

I.  "We  read  that "  when  the  Chief  Priests  and  Scribes 
saw  the  wonderful  things  which  Jesiis  did,  and  the 
children  crying  in  the  temple,  and  saying,  Hosannah  to 
the  Son  of  David !  they  were  sore  displeased."  The 
original  is  expressive  of  great  indignation.  N"ow  there 
must  have  been  something  in  their  view  of  those 
temple-hosannas  beyond  a  mere  childish  imitation  or 
sympathetic  enthusiasm,  to  excite  in  their  minds  such 
deep  feelings  of  indignation.  And  why  should  they  be 
so  much  displeased  with  the  children,  (as  a  distinguished 
Writer  has  suggested,)  whilst  they  take  no  notice  of  the 
shouts  of  the  multitude  in  the  streets  ? 

If  their  feelings  of  displeasure  originated,  as  it  is 
presumed,  from  indications  of  the  progress  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  was  there  not  more  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  shouts  of  the  populace  that  rent  the  air  than  from 
the  unconscious  anthems  of  childhood  ?  In  their  view 
it  would  seem  not.  On  the  assumption  that  those  chil- 
dren had  some  true  idea  of  Christ,  and  that  their  ho- 
sanna  was  a  genuine  outflow  of  their  devotion,  the 
writer*  above  referred  to  gives  the  following  solution 

*  Melvill.  —  We  have  adopted  the  current  idea  of  this  author, 
though  not  in  every  instance  the  phraseology,  except  when  marked 
as  quotation. 


THE  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TEMPLE.       81 

of  the  feelings  of  displeasure  exliibited  by  the  Chief 
Priests  and  Scribes,  why  they  saw  more  to  alarm  them 
in  the  hymning  of  the  children  than  in  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  multitude.  They  knew  the  fickleness  of 
the  multitude,  and  how  soon  this  popular  ebullition 
might  pass  away  as  the  morning  dew,  or  be  changed 
into  the  very  opposite  feelings ;  so  that  the  very  throng 
which  to-day  shouted  "Hosanna,"  might  to-morrow 
join  in  the  cry  of  ''  Crucify  himy  But  they  did  not  so 
regard  the  convictions  and  inwrought  impressions  of  the 
children ;  they  did  not  seem  so  likely  to  be  fitful  and 
evanescent ;  there  was  something  in  this  hold  of  Christ 
upon  the  youthful  afi^ections,  which  to  their  fears  was 
prophetic  of  the  triumph  of  his  cause ;  they  knew  the 
tenacity  of  early  convictions,  and  the  permanency  of 
youthful  impressions,  and  therefore  their  far-reaching 
sagacity  foreshadowed  these  infantile  enthusiasts  into 
the  faithful  adherents  and  marshalled  hosts  of  the  Son 
of  God. 

This  is,  therefore,  a  remarkable  concession,  yet  un- 
consciously oflfered,  on  the  part  of  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
to  the  i^otver  of  early  religious  impressions  and  train- 
ing. Blinded  as  they  were  to  Christianity,  they  were, 
as  politicians,  sufiiciently  sagacious,  and  could  discern 


82  THE    CHILDREN    IN    THE    TEMPLE. 

tlie  probable  bearings  of  tliese  juvenile  liosannas  upon 
the  future  spread  aucl  establishment  of  Christ's  king- 
dom ;  so  that  their  conduct  upon  this  occasion  is  indi- 
cative of  their  conviction  "that  the  hymn  lisped  by 
the  infant  is  likely  to  be  woven  into  the  creed  of  the 
man."  And  although  we  have  no  historic  data  to 
prove  that  the  children  who  shouted  hosanna  in  the 
temple  became  in  mature  life  the  disciples  of  Christ,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  probability  that  such  would  be  the 
result,  was  felt  by  these  Scribes,  and  that  this  was  the 
apprehension  which  awakened  their  displeasure;  so 
that  this  scene  furnishes  a  most  striking  testimonial  to 
the  powerful  influence  of  early  religious  education.  It 
is  a  concession  wrung  from  the  fears  of  sagacious  politi- 
cians, that  our  highest  expectation  of  diffusing  Christi- 
anity rests  in  training  up  the  rising  generation  in  the 
fear  of  God,  and  in  the  love  and  obedience  of  the 
Gospel. 

"  And  this  conviction  has  universally  obtained  among 
philanthropists  and  Christians.  There  always  has  been, 
and  there  yet  is,  a  consciousness,  that  if  a  thorough 
hold  be  gotten  of  the  childhood  of  a  country,  the 
greatest  possible  advantage  will  be  gained  for  the  diffu- 
sion and  maintenance  of  any  doctrine;    and  accord- 


THE  CHILDREN  IX  THE  TEMPLE.       Sd 

ingly,  whilst  those  who  have  most  at  heart  the  Christi- 
anity of  a  people  are  for  covering  a  land  with  schools, 
the  instruction  of  which  shall  draw  its  staple  from  the 
Bihle,  those  who  would  make  Christianity  secondary, 
or  banish  it  altogether,  are  for  establishing  institutions 
in  which  the  young  shall  be  trained,  but  not  in  the 
peculiar  tenets  which  "make  wise  unto  salvation."  In 
both  cases,  the  persuasion  is  practically  the  same,  that 
the  system  of  national  education  determines  in  a  great 
measure  the  form  and  features  of  national  character." 

;N'o  formal  argument  for  the  religious  education 
of  children  could  place  it  in  a  stronger  light,  than  the 
apprehensions  awakened  in  the  minds  of  these  chief 
priests,  upon  hearing  the  hosannas  of  the  children  in 
the  temple. 

And  we  should  be  led  to  more  du^ect  and  perse- 
vering efforts  in  view  of  this  fact,  to  secure  this  mighty 
auxiliary,  in  the  triumphs  of  Christianity  —  by  efforts 
in  our  own  family  —  by  Sabbath  schools,  and  in  every 
practicable  way,  contributing  our  influence,  our 
means,  and  other  personal  endeavours,  to  rear  the 
children  of  our  country  in  the  principles  of  the  Bible, 
assured  that  in  no  other  way  can  vre  so  effectually  and 
permanently  advance   the   ultimate    success   of  every 


84       THE  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TEMPLE. 

moral  reform,  and  elevate  our  nation  and  our  race  in 
tlie  principles  of  virtue  and  religion. 

This  important  aspect  of  the  temple  scene  is  con- 
firmed by  tlie  response  of  the  Saviour  to  the  complaint 
of  these  querulous  priests  and  scribes. 

II.  The  answer  of  Jesus  was  adapted  to  increase 
the  fears  of  these  opponents  of  his  Kingdom,  and  to 
stimulate  the  eiibrts  and  the  hopes  of  all  true  Chris- 
tians in  the  v/ork  of  rearing  the  young  mind  for  Christ 
and  Heaven. 

This  great  and  infallible  Teacher  refers  them  to 
their  own  Scriptures,  for  the  solution  and  vindication 
of  what  had  excited  their  displeasure  —  ''Yea,  have 
ye  never  read,  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  suck- 
lings, thou  hast  perfected  praise  ?  " 

The  quotation  expresses  the  Saviour's  approval  of 
what  the  scribes  thought  reprehensible.  It  is  a  beauti^ 
ful  tribute  to  the  acceptableness  of  such  infont  hj^mn- 
ings  of  his  praise,  and  ought  to  be  a  most  persuasive 
incentive  to  parents,  to  rear  their  little  ones  to  lisp  his 
name  and  sing  his  love.  "  The  proud  and  unholy 
might  look  with  anger  and  contempt  on  the  young 
Christians,  as  they  lisped  their  hosannas;  but  the  grav- 
cious  Redeemer,  who  had  taken  children  in  his  arms, 


THE   CIIILDPtE^   IN   THE   TEMPLE.  85 

put  liis  hands  on  tliem  and  blessed  them,  regarded 
with  complacency  the  very  babes  wlio  were  taught  his 
name,  and  listened  to  their  praises  as  to  an  anthem  in 
which  his  soid  had  delight." 

The  quotation  of  the  Saviour,  moreover,  was  adapted 
to  confirm  the  opinion  expressed  in  the  feai-^  of  the 
priests  and  scribes,  as  to  the  probable  influence  of  the 
rising  generation  in  the  furtherance  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom.  They  seemed  to  have  more  appi^h-ensions 
from  the  hpiins  of  the  children  in  the  temple,  than 
from  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  in  the  streets.  And 
the  quotation  was  adapted  to  justify  their  fears,  that 
from  the  young,  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of  his  Cross, 
his  Kingdom  would  receive  its  largest  accessions  and 
mightiest  champions. 

This  interpretation  of  the  passage  gives  confirmation 
to  the  idea  which  we  extract  from  it,  that  both  from 
the  fears  of  these  Jews,  and  in  the  views  of  the 
Saviour  himself,  there  is  a  mighty  power  in  the  reli- 
gious education  of  children  to  vindicate  the  claims  of 
religion  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  a;nd  a  mighty 
instrumentality  for  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  in  the  earth. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  such  an  instrumental- 


86  THE    CIIILDREIf    IK    THE    TEMPLE, 

ity  may  be,  and  is  wielded  by  the  religious  culture  of 
children.       They   have    in   manifold    instances    been 
directly  instrumental  in  convcj  ing  religious  truth  to 
the  heart  and  conscience  of  the  careless  and  unbeliev- 
ing.   There  is  in  religious  truth,  when  uttered  by  child- 
hood, a  simplicity  and  a  touching  pathos,  that  finds  its 
way  to  hearts  that  are  inaccessible  by  any  other  means. 
Indurated  beyond  hope  must  be  the  heart  that  can 
resist  the  pleadings   of  infancy.     Often,  when  every 
other  entreaty  has  failed,  when  the  minister  and  the 
friend  have  been  repelled  with   obstinate  pertinacity, 
has  the  heart  been  touched  and  moved  by  the  hsping 
accents   of    a   Saviour's   love,   and  the   "  Hosannas " 
simply  repeated  by  the  very   nurslings  of  the  flock. 
Many  a  Sunday-School  scholar,  with  its  mind  stored 
with  the  truths   and  texts  of  the  Bible,   has   carried 
the  Gospel  to   homes   unblessed  with  religion.     And 
many  a  child,  as  it  has  sung  its  infant-school  hymns, 
and  talked  of  Jesus  in  a  home  where  in  all  its  forms 
and   sounds   religion  was   a   stranger,   has   awakened 
thoughts,  and  feehngs,  and  memories  in  the  hearts  of 
irreligious  parents,  which  have  been  blessed  by  God  to 
their  salvation. 
Many  well-authenticated  facts,  as  well  as  some  that 


THE    CHILD  RE>T    IN    THE    TEMPLE.  87 

have  come  under  our  own  observation,  might  be 
adduced,  as  practical  illustrations  of  this  point.  For 
such  anecdotal  incidents,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
chapter  on  the  Mission  of  Little  Children. 

In  imbiuDg  the  minds  of  children  with  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  and  touching  their  hearts  with  a  Sa\dour's 
love,  we  may  be  equipping  the  most  efficient  mission- 
aries to  carry  the  story  of  the  Cross,  in  all  its  touching 
simplicity,  to  many  a  hardened  heart,  and  many  a 
Christ! ess  home. 

Again,  children  early  taught  to  lisp  hosannas  in  the 
temple,  early  trained  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
Christ,  are  more  likely  to  retain  their  first  religious 
impressions,  to  grow  up  Christians,  and  become  the 
firm  adherents  of  Christ  and  his  cause.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  ground  of  these  priestly  apprehensions. 
There  was  not  so  much  alarm  felt  at  the  vociferous 
acclamations  of  the  multitude  in  the  streets,  inasmuch 
as  that  might  subside  as  a  momentary  ebullition ;  but 
the  hymnings  of  the  children,  that  was  not  likely  to 
prove  evanescent.  They  reckoned  that  if  the  young 
were  taught  to  acknowdedge  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  there 
were  strong  reasons  to  fear  they  would  grow  up  his 
disciples,  become  his  devoted  adherents,  and  the  most 


?58  THE    GIIILDEEN   IN   THE   TEMPLE. 

effectual  promoters  of  liis  cause.  And  was  not  tlie 
view  taken  justified  by  the  answ-er  of  the  Saviour?  and 
do  not  facts  universally  confirm  the  opinian  that  there 
is  wonderful  power  in  the  religious  education  of  the 
young ;  and  that  the  most  effectual  way  of  advancing 
the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  is  to  guide  the 
rising  generation  in  the  love  of  truth,  and  in  the  prac- 
tice of  nghteousness  ? 

Facts  well  accredited,  show  that  this  is  no  dream  of 
the  fancy,  or  idle  speculation.  The  immortal  Eaikes, 
at  his  death,  had  the  satisfactory  intelligence^  that  of 
the  4000  children,  reared  in  the  Sabbath  School,  but 
one  had  been  charged  with  any  crime.  The  Chaplain 
of  the  State  Prison,  ]^.  York,  stated  in  1829,  that  of 
the  500  convicts,  not  one  had  for  any  length  of  time 
been  under  the  influence  or  instruction  of  the  Sabbath 
School.  Numerous  statistical  facts  of  a  similar  des- 
cription are  in  our  possession,  illustrative  of  the  Scrip- 
ture promise,  annexed  to  such  religious  training  of 
childhood.  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  wdien  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 

Similar  results  have  been  realized,  in  the  accessions 
to  the  Church.  The  sainted  Milnor,  when  in  attend- 
ance  at  one  of  the  Sabbath  School   anniversaries  in 


THE  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TEMPLE.       89 

London,  stated,  tliat  in  five  years,  9755  Sunday  School 
teachers,  and  scholars,  hi  the  United  States,  made  a 
profession  of  religion,  of  which  far  the  greater  number 
was  from  the  youth.  The  A.  S.  U.,  some  years  ago, 
reported  that  30,000  children  from  the  various  Sa^bhath 
Schools,  had  united  with  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Thus,  facts  of  unquestionable  authenticity  show  that, 
hj  the  religious  education  of  Children,  the  Church  has 
received  her  largest  accessions,  virtue  its  most  numer- 
ous and  consistent  adlierents,  and  religion  its  most 
successful  advocates. 

An  examination  of  our  Theological  Seminaries  would 
furnish  evidence  of  the  same  practical  result.  The 
greater  proportion  of  those  who  are  preparing  for  the 
ministry,  were  the  children  of  pious  parents,  or  received 
early  religious  training  in  the  Sabbath  School.  There 
is  in  Philadelphia,  a  Lutheran  Church,  whose  Sabbath 
School  has  now  six  men  iii  the  gospel  ministry.  Some 
years  ago,  the  students  of  one  of  our  schools  of  the 
prophets,  made  the  inquiry,  hov/  many  among  their 
number  were  the  sons  of  pious  parents,  and  had  re- 
ceived their  first  religious  impressions  in  childhood ; 
and  the  result  of  the  examination  was  that  four-fifths 
of  them  could  trace-  their  first  religious  impressions  to 


90  THE   CHILDHEN   IN   THE   TEMPLE. 

the  lessons  and  li^Tims  of'  tlie  nursery,  and  tlie  prayers 
of  pious  motliers. 

Thus  viewing  this  temple-scene,  in  the  light  of  illus- 
trative facts,  we  are  encouraged  and  quickened  in  the 
work  of  training  the  young  to  shout  Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David. 

We  derive  a  stimulus  hoth  from  the  fears  and  mur- 
murs of  the  scrihes,  and  the  answer  of  the  Saviour  that, 
"  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  God  has 
perfected  praise."  For,  "both  alike  testified  that  to 
train  the  young  in  Christian  principles,  is  to  secure  for 
those  principles  advancement  and  ascendency." 

Let  us  fully  realize  the  mighty  power  that  may  be 
wielded  for  Christ's  kingdom,  in  the  rearing  of  the 
rising  generation  —  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the 
Saviour.  Let  it  be  the  first  great  object  of  those  occupy- 
ing the  responsible  relation  of  parents,  to  "bring  up 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord;"  that  their  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up 
in  their  youth,  and  their  daughters  as  corner-stones 
polished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace.  Ps.  cxliv.  12. 

And  as  philanthropists  and  Christians,  let  us  aid  m 
the  benevolent  work  of  Sabbath  Schools,  the  great  and 
distinctive  object  of  which  is  to  bring  the  children  to 


THE   CHILDREJ^   IN   THE   TEMPLE.  91 

Christ,  that  they  may  receive  his  blessing,  and  learn  to 
praise  him  in  the  temple,  assured  that  we  can  in  no 
other  way  so  effectually  advance  the  cause  of  virtue 
and  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  by  prayerful  and 
persevering  and  combined  activity  in  this  direction  of 
benevolent  effort. 

And  how  inspiiiting  to  Christian  hope  is  the  thought, 
that  in  this  land  every  Sabbath  300,000  Teachers  are 
engaged  in  imparting  religious  instruction  to  the  young, 
and  that  on  every  Sabbath  more  than  two  millions  of 
children  are  singing  hosannas  in  the  temples  of  the  true 
and  living  God  ! 

How  has  that  little  group  of  children  in  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem  enlarged  its  numbers,  what  millions  have 
caught  up  and  prolonged  that  infant  Hallelujah,  until 
it  is  beginning  to  roll  like  the  sound  of  many  waters  ! 
And  how  does  the  vision  open  beautifiilly  and  majesti- 
cally in  the  future,  when  the  v\^hole  earth  shall  be  one 
vast  temple,  and  from  myriads  of  children,  and  those 
like  children,  shall  roll  round  the  earth  and  swell  up  to 
heaven,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  !"  The  king- 
doms of  this  world  have  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ." 

Let  us  rightly  understand  the  lessons  of  this  temple- 


92  THE    CHILBKEN    IN    THE    TEMPLE. 

scene,  and  catch  the  inspiration  of  those  infant  hymns. 
We  have  not  seen  as  we  ought  the  instrumental  con- 
nection of  little  children  with  the  coming  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  We  have  almost  lost  sight  of  the  little  ones 
in  our  vast  schemes  and  suhlime  operations  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world.  We  have  thought  more  of  the 
multitude  shouting  in  the  streets,  than  the  sweet  ho- 
saunas  of  children  in  the  temple.  The  priests  and 
scribes  were  wiser  and  more  far-seeing  than  we;  for 
they  saw  more  significant  indications  of  Christ's  ad- 
vancing kingdom  in  the  simple  hymns  of  the  children 
than  in  all  the  boisterous  acclamations  of  the  adult  mul- 
titude. Let  us  learn  from  our  enemies ;  let  us  look  to 
the  children  as  among  the  mightiest  instrumentalities 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Eedeemer's  kingdom.  "  Of 
such,"  said  Jesus,  "is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  as 
though  he  would  say  to  his  misconceiving  friends, 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  one  which  it  requires  armed  force, 
banded  hosts  of  men  to  establish ;  little  children  are  to 
set  it  up ;  if  they  can  be  enlisted  in  my  cause,  my 
throne  is  reared  in  all  the  earth."  "Suffer  them  to 
come  unto  me,  instil  into  their  minds  my  doctrines, 
cultivate  in  their  forming  hearts  my  affections,  and 
they  shall  maintain  my  kingdom ;  they  shall  bear  it  on 


THE    CIIILDREX    IX    THE    TEMPLE.  V6 

their  young  sliouklers,  grasp  it  witli  their  tender  hancls^ 
and  move  it  forward  with  their  fresh  strength  to  end- 
less advancement." 

We  conckide  this  chapter  with  the  inspiriting  thoughts 
and  words  of  an  eloquent  writer.* 

"With  solemn  joy  I  hark  to  the  marshalling  of  this 
great  troop,  mightier  than  all  the  noisy  hosts  of  the 
camp  and  the  bloody  plain.  Their  tread,  far  oiF  and 
near  by,  grows  year  by  year  wider  and  more  audible. 
Their  van  is  in  the  midst  of  us.  Parents  and  teachers 
are  divinely  appointed  to  the  lead  of  the  vast  company. 
Tyrants  and  oppressors,  all  sinners  and  corrupters  of 
human  virtue,  tremble  at  their  coming.  At  the  trum- 
pet blown  by  their  youthful  voices,  the  walls  of  every 
evil  institution  shall  Ml  down.  Quiet,  and  without 
violence,  as  the  light  of  the  morning,  is  their  advance ; 
but  povv^erfal,  all-pervading,  and  creative,  as  the  sun  in 
heaven,  their  influence.  I  see  them  banding,  I  hear 
them  approaching,  as  the  very  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Those  old  words  of  Jesus  ring  out  more  arousing  than 
an}'  clarion  upon  my  ear.  From  the  little  audience 
gathered  on  that  further  side  of  Jordan,  they  come  as 
melody  softly  loud  to  the  great  Captain's  host,  but,  like 

*  Bartol. 


94  THE    CHILDREN    IN    THE    TEMPLE. 

the  music  in  a  march  of  attack,  dreadful  to  his  foes. 
The  gentle  voice  of  him  who  first  uttered  them,  mus- 
tering those  that  fight  with  no  carnal  weapons,  waxes 
into  a  call  with  which  the  martial  instruments  of  all 
nations  cannot  vie.  The  Commander's  speech  passes 
down  to  every  one  in  the  conduct  under  him,  till  it 
reaches  the  youngest  follower  in  all  his  ranks.  At  the 
pervading  sound  a  decisive  movement  runs  through 
the  whole  array  advancing  together.  ISTo  reeling  step 
is  seen,  no  clanking  chain  or  scourging  whip  is  heard. 
Only  forward  to  the  victories  of  peace  and  love  the 
children  of  a  new-born  race,  a  noble  army,  go.  God 
speed  them !  and  God  help  us  to  speed  them  on  their 
way ! " 


Cfinpter  /onrtlj 


TIMOTHY. 


*'  And  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures." —  Patji» 


Hold  the  little  hands  in  prayer 

Let  him  see  thee  speaking  to  thy  God  :  he  will  not  forget  it  afterwards ; 
"When  old  and  gray,  will  he  feelingly  rememher  a  mother's  tender  piety. 

TUPPER. 


Timothy  cannot  properly  be  associated  with  the 
children  of  the  Kew  Testament,  except  in  imagination ; 
but  the  allusion  of  the  apostle  to  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  his  childhood,  with  an  obvious  intimation  that 
the  "  child  was  father  of  the  man,"  authorizes  his  intro- 
duction here,  as  a  practical  illustration  of  the  sentiments 
we  have  advanced  and  endeavored  to  enforce  in  the 
preceding  chapters  ;  and  the  reference  that  is  made  to 
his  mother,  whose  piety  infolded  lovingl}^  the  spirit  of 
her  child,  inbreathing  into  it  her  own  spiritual  life, 

(95) 


l)b  TIMOTHY. 

and  bathing  its  young  lie^irt  with  tlie  love  of  God,  sug- 
gests the  importance  o£  piety  and  prayer  as  essential 
elements  of  ]30wer  in  the  mother,  giving  efficiency  to 
her  instructions,  and  success  in  moulding  the  plastic 
child  into  the  Christian  man. 

The  two  allusions  of  the  Apostle  give  us  the  requisites 
in  the  religious  education  of  the  child.  ''  And  from  a 
child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures."  2  Tim. 
iii.  15.  The  unfeigned  faith  that  is  in  thee,  that  dwelt 
first  in  thy  grandmother  Lois  and  thy  mother  Eunice, 
and  I  am  persuaded  in  thee  also."  In  these  two  refer- 
ences w^e  have  instruction  and  example  combined  in 
the  education  of  Timothy.  There  is  something  in  the 
latter  reference  that  seems  to  favor  Bushnell's  theory 
of  the  ''  organic  unity  of  the  family ; "  according  to  this 
idea,  the  child  is  morally  connected  with  the  parents  — 
a  kind  of  rudimental  being,  that  is  to  grov/  up  in  their 
life  —  the  parents  transfusing  as  it  were,  their  own 
spirit  and  moral  life  into  the  child.*  "Whilst  we  might 
feel  some  reluctance  in  the  adoption  of  his  theory,  in 
its  essential  idea  of  organic  unit}^,  there  is  much  that 
commends  itself  to  our  minds  as  both  reasonable  and 
in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture.     And  I 

*  See  Bushnell  on  Christian  Nurture. 


TIMOTHY.  97 

am  sure  liiat  it  would  have  been  more  profitable  for 
the  Church  to  have  improved  by  his  important  sugges- 
tions on  Christian  nurture,  than  to  raise  the  cry  of 
heresy.  There  is  important  truth  in  his  position,  that 
there  exists  a  spiritual  vital  union  between  the  parent 
and  the  child,  and  that  under  the  influence  of  a  spirit 
and  an  example  of  piety,  we  are  authorized  to  expect  the 
"child  to  grow  up  a  Christian."  This  is  not  original 
with  him,  but  as  he  says  is  as  old  as  the  Christian 
Church.  In  the  allusion  of  Paul,  "  the  faith  that  is  in 
thee  which  dwelt  first  in  thy  grandmother  Lois  and  thy 
mother  Eunice,"  there  is  something  that  seems  like 
a  transmission  of  piety  from  the  one  to  the  other;  "the 
Apostle  conceives  a  power  in  the  good  life  of  their 
mothers,  that  must  needs  transmit  some  flavor  of 
piety." 

But,  apart  from  his  theory,  no  one  '"questions  the 
existence  of  piety  in  the]  parent  as  essential  to  the  reli- 
gious education  of  the  child.  "Bring  them  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  "a  form  of  ex- 
pression," says  Bushnell,  "which  indicates  the  existence 
of  a  divine  nurture  that  is  to  encompass  the  child  and 
mould  him  unto  God;  so  that  he  shall  be  brought  up, 
as  it  were,  in  Him." 


gS  TIMOTHY. 

"We  present  Eunice,  in  lier  efforts  by  precept  and 
example,  to  bring  np  her  child  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord,  as  an  example  for  the  imitation 
of  all  mothers ;  and  we  present  Timothy  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  what,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  they  may 
reasonably  expect  as  the  practical  result  of  such  imita- 
tion. 

Every  mother  should  regard  it  as  practicable  to  rear 
her  child  a  Christian.  Taking  the  ductile  mind  and 
impressible  nature  of  her  little  one,  surrounding  it  with 
an  atmosphere  of  love,  infusing  into  its  forming  heart 
the  spirit  of  piety,  and  instilling  into  its  opening  mind 
the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  she  should  seek,  under  the 
divine  blessing,  to  nurture  it  into  the  Christian  child, 
to  be  developed  into  the  Christian  man. 

It  is  true  there  may  be  hostile  influences  sometimes 
counteracting  this  pious  nurture,  and  disappointing  us 
in  the  practical  result ;  but  this  should  not  interfere 
with  a  faithful  discharge  of  parental  duty,  in  the  hope 
that  a  "  child  trained  up  in  the  way  he  should  go  will 
not  depart  from  it  when  he  is  old."  Let  the  child  be 
instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  Savibur, 
and  spiritual  things,  encompassing  its  early  years  with 
a  pious  example  and  every  Christian  influence,  and 


T I  Ji  0  T  n  Y.  99 

tlicn  in  pra^^er  commend  the  result  to  God.  As  a 
quaint  preacher  once  said,  "Fill  the  water-pots  with 
water,  and  Christ  may  turn  it  into  wine." 

As  the  early  religious  instruction  of  childhood  has 
been  specially  considered  in  a  previous  chapter,  nothing 
more  seems  needed  than  the  encouragement  and  stimu- 
lus afforded  to  mothers  in  the  example  of  Eunice,  whose 
pious  efforts  in  behalf  of  her  child  were  so  richly  re- 
warded in  the  Christian  man,  Timothy, 

Like  this  mother,  begin  early  the  process  of  religious 
education.  Be  assured,  that  whatever  progress  the 
vforld  has  made  since  then,  the  religious  growth  of  a 
child  is  still  the  same.  The  child  has  to  start  from  the 
cradle  and  grow  out  of  it,  just  as  Timothy  did.  Eeli- 
gious  character  is  now,  as  then,  a  growth.  With  all 
modem  improvements  in  the  application  of  steam  and 
electricity  for  the  speedier  transmission  of  our  bodies 
and  our  thoughts  from  city  to  city,  the  old  law  of  pro- 
gress and  development  in  the  natural  and  spiritual 
world  remains  unchanged.  The  passage  from  the  germ 
to  the  blossom,  from  infancy  to  manhood,  from  igno- 
rance to  wisdom,  still  goes,  and  must  go,  by  the  old 
slow  method  of  growth  and  development.  The  flower 
does  not  spring  up  full-grown ;  it  rises  from  the  germ 


100  TIMOTHY. 

by  a  development  and  an  increase  noiseless  and  gentle. 
So,  said  the  Saviour,  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a 
man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground,  and  the  seed 
should  spring  up  and  grow,  first  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  Mark  iv. 
26-29. 

This  was  the  process  of  religious  growth  and  deve- 
lopment in  the  case  of  Timothy.  It  began  in  his  in- 
fancy on  the  bosom  of  his  mother. 

Among  the  first  things  to  be  done  by  the  believing 
mother  for  her  child,  is  its  presentation  to  Christ  in 

B  A  P  T  I  S  JI . 

It  would  not  comport  with  the  current  spirit  and 
tone  of'  this  book  to  notice  the  polemical  aspect  of  in- 
fant baptism.  It  would  be  out  of  taste,  and  of  ques- 
tionable utility.  Believing  that  the  Cliristian  dispen- 
sation is  only  a  continuation,  a  fuller  development  of 
the  Jewish ;  the  same  church  expanded  into  a  nobler 
form ;  *  we  expect  a  parallel  between  circumcision  and 
,  baptism  as  initiatory  rites  in  the  two  dispensations.  If 
infants,  by  the  express  direction  of  God,  were  admitted 


*  Kip,  Double  Witness  of  the  Church,  Section  II. 


TIMOTHY.  101 

by  circumcision  into  the  Jewish  church,  -why  may  they 
not  now  he  received  into  the  Christian  fold  by  baptism  ? 
The  church  is  essentially  the  same  in  all  ages,  and  the 
ancient  promise  is  still  made  "to  us  and  our  children." 
I  cannot  forbear  quoting  here  the  remarks  of  Bush- 
nell,  shoY\^ing  the  relation  of  his  theory  of  organic 
unity  to  infant  baptism.  "  The  child  is  too  young  to 
choose  the  rite  for  himself;  but  the  parent,  having  him 
as  it  were  in  his  own  life,  is  allowed  the  confidence  that 
his  ovrn  faith  and  character  will  be  reproduced  in^  the 
child,  and  grow  up  in  his  growth ;  and  that  thus  the 
propriety  of  the  rite  as  a  seal  of  faith  will  not  be  vio- 
lated. In  giving  u^  this  rite  on  the  grounds  stated, 
God  promises,  in.  fact,  on  his  part  to  dispense  that 
spiritual  grace  which  is  necessary  to  the  fulfilment  of 
its  import.  In  this  way,  too,  it  is  seen  that  the  Chris- 
tian economy  has  a  place  for  all  ages ;  for  it  would  be 
singular  if,  after  all  we  say  of  the  universality  of  God's 
mercy  as  a  gift  to  the  human  race,  it  could  yet  not 
limber  itself  to  man,  so  as  to  adopt  a  place  for  the  age 
of  childhood,  but  must  leave  a  full  fourth  part  of  the 
race,  the  part  least  hardened  in  evil  and  tenderest  to 
good,  unrecognized  and  unprovided  for;  gathering  a 
flock  without  lambs,  or,  I  should  rather  say,  gathering 


102  TIMOTHY. 

a  flock  away  from  the  lambs.  Such  is  not  the  spirit 
of  Him  who  said,  '*  Forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven."  Therefore  we  bring  them  into 
the  school  of  Christ,  and  the  pale  of  his  mercy  with 
lis,  there  to  be  trained  up  in  the  holy  nurture  of  the 
Lord." 

Every  act  of  Christ  in  relation  to  children,  and  hia 
repeated  declaration  that  "  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven,"  justifies  the  conclusion  that  he  would  not  bid 
the  little  ones  stand  without  the  sacred  fold.  Such  an 
exclusion  of  little  children  from  the  gi^ace  and  blessings 
of  his  church  would  be  utterly  inconsonant  with  his 
whole  character — a  deportment  so  'expressive  of  tender- 
ness and  afiection  for  children — as  well  as  irreconcile- 
able  with  the  prophetic  representation  of  the  Messiah 
as  the  Good  Shepherd,  who  should  "  gather  the  lambs 
with  his  arms,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom." 

It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if,  in  a  "scheme  of 
mercy"  for  the  world,  the  Saviour  had  found  no  place 
for  infants  and  little  children.  Strange  if  the  parents 
should  be  included  in  the  holy  communion  of  the 
Church,  whilst  the  innocent  little  ones  should  be  left 
without  the  fold,  without  the  imparted  grace  and  the 
Christian  nurture  of  the  Church.     The  idea  is  inadmis- 


TIMOTHY.  103 

sible;  "Ure  fondly  clasp  to  our  hearts  the  cherished 
doctrine  of  infant  baptism  as  taught  in  our  churchy 
founded,  as  we  believe,  in  the  word  of  God. 

"  Of  the  two  great  ideas  of  our  religion,  Holiness 
and  Love,  one  stands  behind  the  Lord's  table,  and  the 
other  guards  the  baptismal  font.  It  is,  then,  no  slight 
thing  when  you  offer  your  child  to  take  this  sign  which 
led  on  Judaism  to  Christianity.  It  is  a  consecration  to 
the  Lord.* 

Let  no  speculative  difficulties  keep  you  from  this 
consecration  of  your  child  to  God.  Do  not^  like  the 
disciples,  keep  your  child  from  Christ,  under  the  idea 
it  is  too  young  to  believe — too  young  to  receive  the  grace 
and  blessing  of  Christ.  Who  can  positively  affirm 
that  a  child  is  incapable  of  faith  ?  What  do  we  know 
of  the  capabilities  of  a  child's  mind  ?  A  child  has  faith 
in  its  mother ;  why  may  it  not  exercise  belief  in  Jesus  ? 
The  child  reposes  in  its  mother's  arms  with  as  much 
confiding  security  as  the  philosopher  rests  in  the  laws 
of  the  universe.  Why  may  it  not  rest  as  confidingly 
in  the  arms  of  Jesus?  There  is  no  psychological 
absurdity  in  the  idea  of  a  child  having  faith ;  and  all 
the  assertions  to  the  contrary  are  wholly  gratuitous  and 
founded  in  ignorant  assumptions. 
*  Bartol. 


104  TIMOTHY. 

''I  do  not  hold,"  said  Lutlier,  "that  children  are 
without  faith  v,dien  they  are  baptized ;  for,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  brought  to  Christ  by  his  command,  and  that 
the  church  prayeth  for  them,  therefore,  without  all 
doubt,  faith  is  given  unto  them,  although  with  our 
natural  sense  and  reason  we  neither  see  nor  under- 
stand it."* 

JSTor  can  any  one  deny  that  a  child  may  be  the  sub- 
ject of  divine  influence;  that  there  may  be  an  agency 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  adapted  to  an  infant's  mind. 

But,  dismissing  all  speculations  upon  this  point,  it 
should  be  enough  for  the  parents  to  know  that  they  are 
invited  to  bring  the  child,  and  devote  it  to  the  Lord  in 
holy  baptism  ;  and  that,  by  that  solemn  rite,  it  becomes 
a  member  of  the  church  of  Christ,  and  the  subject  of 
divine  grace.  It  is  a  pledge  of  acceptance,  securing  for 
the  child  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  thus  received 
into  a  covenant  relation  to  each  of  the  three  persons  in 
whose  one  name  they  are  baptized,  "  acceptance  by  the 
Father,  union  with  Christ,  and  the  Communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

This  we  conceive  is  one  of  the  first  duties  of  a  parent 
to  the  child.     Before  it  is  susceptible  of  any  influence 

*  Coleridge's  Literary  Remains. 


TIMOTHY.  105 

0 

or  instruction  from  tlie  mother,  let  it  be  brought  to  the 
baptismal  font,  placed  under  the  gentle  stream  falling 
from  the  skies,  whose  mild  outpouring  is  ordained  of 
God  to  purify  and  bless  the  child.  Bring  your  little 
one  first  to  Christ,  to  be  infolded  in  his  love,  and  ga- 
thered as  a  lamb  to  his  flock.  What  spectacle  more 
lovely  than  the  sight  of  a  Christian  mother  bringing  her 
unconscious  child  and  consecrating  it  forever  to  the 
Lord !  This  scene,  as  one  of  spiritual  beauty,  in  its 
significance  and  after-blessedness,  is  so  touchingly  pre- 
sented by  "Willis,  that  we  cannot  close  more  happily 
than  by  its  insertion. 

"  She  stood  up  in  the  meekness  of  a  heart 
Kesting  on  God,  and  held  her  fair  young  child 
Upon  her  bosom,  with  its  gentle  eyes  " 
Folded  in  sleep,  as  if  its  soul  had  gone 
To  whisper  the  baptismal  vow  in  heaven. 
The  prayer  went  up  devoutly,  and  the  lips 
Of  the  good  man  glow'd  fervently  with  faith 
That  it  would  be  even  as  he  had  pray'd, 
And  the  sweet  child  be  gathered  to  the  fold 
Of  Jesus.     As  the  holy  words  went  on 
Her  lips  moved  silently,  and  tears,  fast  tears. 
Stole  from  beneath  her  lashes,  and  upon 
The  forehead  of  the  beautiful  child  lay  soft 
With  the  baptismal  water.     Then  I  thought 
That  to  the  eye  of  God,  that  mother's  tears 


106  TIMOTHY. 

Would  be  a  deeper  covenant  —  which  sin 

And  the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  death 

Would  leave  unbroken  —  and  that  she  would  know 

In  the  clear  light  of  heaven,  how  very  strong 

The  prayer  which  press'd  them  from  her  heart  had  been 

In  leading  its  young  spirit  up  to  God. 

Having  made  the  consecration,  be  careful  that  as  its 
mind  unfolds  into  intelligent  consciousness  there  be 
nothing  to  check  its  spiritual  growth ;  be  careful  that 
all  the  words  and  looks  and  smiles  around  that  child 
be  the  effusion  of  Christian  love ;  that  there  be  no  evil 
tempers  and  passions,  or  any  manifestation  of  sin,  to 
soil  its  spirit.  For  whilst  the  flowers  of  earth  drink  in 
sweetness  only  from  ''  every  air  that  stirs," 


the  child 


That  shuts  within  its  breast  a  bloom  for  heaven, 
May  take  a  blemish  from  the  breath  of  love. 
And  bear  the  blight  forever. 

As  soon  as  it  is  suscejjtible  of  religious  instruction, 
instil  into  its  mind  the  simple  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and 
infuse  into  its  heart  your  own  spirit  of  faith  and  love 
and  prayer;  and  "live  the  better  life  into  the  child. 
Let  the  child  grow  up  in  your  home  as  in  the  sanctuary 
of  God,"  the  church  of  childhood,  surrounded  Avith  a 
holy  atmosphere,  a  holy  spiritual  life;   "all  glowdng 


T  I M  0  T II  Y.  107 

aLoiit  the  yoniig  soul  as  a  warm  and  genial  nurture, 
and  forming  in  it,  by  methods  that  are  silent  and  im- 
perceptible, a  spirit  of  duty  and  religious  obedience  to 
God.  This  only  is  Christian  nurture,  the  nurture  of 
the  Lord." 

Thus  by  baptism,  prayer,  instruction,  and  example, 
rear  that  immortal  nursling,  for  a  developement  and 
growth  in  Christ  the  Lord.  Realizing  in  your  varied 
and  pious  efforts,  the  beautiful  description  of  Gold- 
smith's village  pastor. 

"  And,  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries, 
To  tempt  her  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies, 
He  tried  each  art,  reprov'd.  each  dull  delay. 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way." 

And  like  the  pious  Eunice,  honored  in  sacred  history 
—  immortalized  in  Christian  memory  as  the  mother  of 
Timothy  —  you  shall  be  blessed  in  your  children,  and 
confer  perpetual  blessings  upon  the  Church  and  the 
world. 

"Happy  are  they  who,  instead  of  a  tablet  in  the 
Church-yard  wall,  are  thus  commemorated  by  polished 
stones  in  the  living  temple."  * 

*  Hamilton. 


CjiaptEr  fiU^. 


THE  INFANTICIDE  AT  BETHLEHEM. 


Then  Herod sent  forth  and  slew  all  the  children  that  were  in  Bethle- 
hem, and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  under,  according  to 
the  time  which  he  had  diligently  inquired  of  the  wise  men.  —  Matthew. 


"Hail,  infant  sufferers  !  martyr'd  flow'rets,  hail! 
Ye  fell,  as  new-born  roses  fall,  when  scatter'd  by  the  gale. 
Earliest  of  all  were  ye  that  suffer'd  for  the  word, 
Sweet  firstlings  of  that  slaughter'd  flock  so  precious  to  the  Lord  ; 
And  round  his  heavenly  altar  now,  his  high  uplifted  throne, 
Ye  guileless  sport  the  crown  and  palm  your  martyrdom  hath  won.'' 


This  scene  of  murdered  infants  is  a  strange  and 
touching  coincidence  in  the  advent  of  Jesus.  Strange, 
that  martyred  innocence  should  signahze  the  coming 
of  riim  whose  mission  was  not  to  destroy,  but  to  save 
life  !  We  are  conscious  of  a  painful  revulsion  of  feeling 
in  the  sudden  transition  from  the  cradle  of  the  infant 
Redeemer,  surrounded  by  the  prostrate  worship  of  the 

(108) 


THE    INFANTICIDE    AT    BETHLEHEM.  109 

eastern  magi,  and  tlie  adoring  wonder  of  the  shepherds, 
to  this  sanguinaiy  scene  of  slaughtered  infants,  the  in- 
nocent victims  of  fiendish  passion.  There  is  an  inde- 
finable feeling  of  something  painfully  inconsonant  in 
that  Avail  of  bereaved  and  sorrowing  mothers,  almost 
commingling  with  the  jubilant  songs  of  the  angels, 
"  Glor}^  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men." 

But  let  no  momentary  feelings  of  revulsion,  awak- 
ened by  this  tragical  scene,  exclude  from  our  minds 
the  recoo'nition  of  a  Divine  Providence.     Let  us  not 

o 

view  this  outburst  of  tyrannic  passion  as  a  wild,  ungo- 
verned  power,  breaking  into  the  domain  of  Providence. 
^•The  Lord  reigneth;"  and  with  this  concession  we  are 
bound  to  admit  the  great -principle  in  the  dispensations 
of  God,  "that  whatever  evil  he  permits  he  overrules 
for  good,  although  we  may  not  be  able  always  to  dis- 
cern the  good  produced  from  the  evil  permitted." 

In  this  scriptural  aspect  of  Divine  Providence,  we  can 
believe  there  was  wisdom  in  the  permission  of  that 
bloody  scene,  and  that  even  the  Divine  goodness  did 
not  forsake  those  homes  of  calamity.  "Who  will  deny 
that  even  there,  there  v/ere  hearts  that  felt  that  God 

was  near  them  iij  that  fearful  visitation  ?  and,  in  that 
10 


110  THE    INFANTICIDE    AT    BETHLEHEM. 

consciousness,  looked  beyond  the  siuTOiinding  darkness 
to  the  calm  heaven — to  the  presence  of  God  above  ? 

Bnt,  it  may  be  asked,  why  did  not  Almighty  good- 
ness interpose,  and  shield  those  innocent  victims  from 
that  murderous  hand,  and  spare  those  maternal  hearts 
that  crushing  weight  of  sorrow?  "Had  it  been  best, 
truly  best,  in  the  whole  view  of  things,  can  we  doubt 
that  it  would  have  interposed  ?  Then  it  was  not  best." 
But,  still  it  may  be  urged,  that  this  was  not  the  work 
of  Providence,  but  of  a  vindictive  and  lawdess  tyrant. 
But  was  Herod  beyond  the  grasp  and  control  of  the 
Omnipotent  hand?  If  not,  then  was  that  scene 
permitted  by  God,  and,  according  to  an  obvious  prin- 
ciple of  the  Divine  government,  overruled  and  made 
conducive  to  wise  and  gracious  ends  ? 

This  scene  of  infanticide,  however  revolting  to  our 
feelings,  is  not  so  utterly  abnormal  in  the  dispensations 
of  Divine  Providence,  as  to  be  irreconcilable  with  the 
revealed  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God.  We  feel  no 
difficulty  in  the  case  of  the  martyr.  We  almost  forget 
his  physical  pangs,  and  the  injustice  which  doomed 
him  to  the  torturing  fires,  when  we  look  at  his  soul  and 
see  how  it  is  borne  up  to  the  noblest  heroism  and 
triumph,  converting  the  very  flames  ^hich  encircle  and 


THE    INFANTICIDE    AT    BETHLEHEM.  HI 

consume  the  body  into  a  chariot,  in  which  his  soul  is 
borne  to  heaven.  And  yet  the  martyr  is  sacrificed  to 
the  most  enormous  error,  and  the  most  vindictive 
passion  of  which  the  world  can  be  guilty.  But,  it  may 
be  said,  the  martyr  dies  for  a  principle,  for  truth,  for 
the  good  of  others.  And  so  did  the  infants  of  Bethle- 
hem. They  have  always  been  reckoned  among  the 
martyrs.  And  it  is  beautiful  to  think,  says  an  eloquent 
writer,  that  as  the  spirits  of  the  martyred  little  ones 
soared  towards  heaven,  they  may  have  been  taught  to 
look  on  the  infant  in  whose  stead  they  died ;  that  He 
for  whom  they  had  been  sacrificed  v/as  about  to  be 
sacrificed  for  them,  and  that  they  were  mounting  to 
glory  on  the  merits  of  that  defenceless  Babe,  as  he 
seemed  then,  hurrying  as  an  outcast  into  Egypt.  Oh  ! 
the  voice  of  weeping  might  have  been  heard  in  Bama ; 
but  those  over  whom  the  roused  mothers  lamented  had 
entered  into  heaven,  as  the  first  fruits  to  God  and  the 
Lamb,  and  were  already  celebrating  the  praises  of  Him 
whose  blood,  not  yet  shed,  had  provided  for  their 
ransom. "^  So  that  the  slaughtered  infants,  dying  we 
almost  might  say /or  the  Saviour,  won  something  like 
the  martyr's  crown,  which  shall  forever  sparkle  on  their 

*  Melvill. 


112  THE    INEANTICIDE    AT    BETHLEHEM. 

forelieacls.     "  These,"  as  Mattlicw  Henry  quaintly  says, 
"  were  tlie  infantry  of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs." 

In  this  aspect,  this  tragical  scene  is  no  more  at  va- 
riance with  the  goodness  of  God,  than  the  fate  of  mil- 
lions that  have  suffered  martyrdom,  the  victims  of 
bigotry  and  persecution. 

And  then  this  scene  acquires  perhaps  an  undue  enor- 
mity to  the  imagination,  because  viewed  as  a  general 
picture.  It  seems  an  overwhelming  catastrophe,  be- 
cause, in  part  at  least,  we  see  all  those  slain  infants, 
anguished  mothers,  and  shaded  homes,  grouped  toge- 
ther in  one  dark  picture.  But  separate  them,  indivi- 
dualize them,  as  they  certainly  were  in  the  experience. 
Each  home  had  its.  own  sorrow ;  each  mother  had  her 
own  anguish,  as  much  alone  in  her  bereavement,  her 
pained  affections,  her  prayers,  alone  with  her  God,  as 
if  she  were  the  only  chastened  mother,  and  hers  the 
only  sorrowing  home,  in  Bethlehem.  And  that  scene, 
save  for  the  horrid  manner  of  its  production,  is  but 
the  scene  of  every  w^eek  in  a  large  city,  vvdiere  there  are 
a  hundred  sorrowing  hearts  and  tearful  families,  be- 
cause loved  ones  have  gone  to  their  long  home  and  the 
"mourners  go  about  the  streets." 

As  a  further  vindication  of  this  calamitous  scene, 


^IIE    INj^ANTICIBE    at    BETHLEHEM.  113 

from  any  aspersions  which  it  might  seem  to  reflect 
upon  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  Divine  Providence, 
we  remark,  that  it  was  no  douht  made  subservient  to 
wise  and  beneficent  ends. 

Those  Jewish  mothers  may  have  looked  upon  their 
children  with  an  idolatrous  pride  and  affection,  each 
one  with  a  fond  and  ambitious  partiality  imagining  her 
own  to  be  the  child  of  prophecy,  the  Great  Deliverer ; 
and  if  so,  they  needed  that  painful  discipline  which 
God  still  administers  to  parents  by  the  death  of  their 
children. 

And  then  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  these  infants 
were,  in  an  important  sense,  martyrs  for  the  truth.  It 
was  matter  of  prophetic  record,  thalJ  the  Messiah  should 
be  born  in  Bethlehem,  and  at  this  particular  time ;  and 
as  Herod,  by  this  infanticide,  had  exterminated  all  the 
other  male  children,  the  conclusion  was  irresistible  that 
Jesiis  must  be  the  predicted  Messiah  ;  so  that  the  very 
effort  to  crush  the  new-born  king  but  served  to  vindi- 
cate his  divine  mission;  and  that  sword  of  Herod, 
crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  murdered  infants,  did 
almost  demonstrate  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah. 

In  these,  and  other  ways  unknown  to  us,  that  bloody 

scene  may  have  subserved  important  and  beneficent 
10* 


114  THE    INFANTICIDE    AT    BETHLEHEM, 

ends,  [incl  that  too  witliout  any  essential  injury  to  the 
innocent  victims  of  Herod's  fury.  For  ''  the  rage  of 
Herod  against  the  infant  king  but  sent  the  little  onea 
to  shout  among  the  blessed  His  praises, 

Who  brought  them  there, 
Without  a  wish,  without  a  care." 

'  They  were  taken  from  the  evil  to  come  —  from  Ju- 
dah's  impending  desolation.  It  was  well  for  them  to 
be  removed  from  earth,  ere  it  shook  under  the  terrible 
judgments  of  God.  It  was  a  mercy  for  those  innocent 
babes  to  be  borne  away  in  their  untarnished  beauty, 
before  the  gathering  storm  —  and  of  such,  how  truly  it 
may  be  said — 

"  The  less  of  this  poor  earth,  the  more  of  heaven  ! 
The  briefer  life,  the  earlier  immortality  ! '' 

This  tragical  scene  at  Bethlehem,  thus  viewed  and 
explained,  naturally  suggests  the  following  interesting 
topics  of  thought  upon  Little  Children,  viz.,  The  Death, 
Mission,  Heavenly  Home,  and  Kecognition  of  these 
little  ones. 


THE  DEATH   OF  LITTLE   CHILDREN.  115 


The  Death  of  Little  Children, 

"  The  lovely  bud,  so  young  and  fair, 
Called  hence  by  early  doom, 
Just  came  to  show,  how  sweet  a  flower 
In  paradise  would  bloom." 

There  is  sonietliing  in  tliis  section,  that  comes  home 
to  our  hearts  with  a  touching  personal  interest.  There 
are  few  homes  in  which  there  is  not  some  sad  memo- 
rial of  departed  heauty — some  broken  link  in  the 
chain  of  association,  that  comes  round  with  a  tearful 
memory.  There  are  few  parental  hearts  that  have  not 
felt  the  pain  of  wounded  affection,  over  some  withered 
hope,  and  in  whose  memory  there  still  liugers  with  a 
chastened  sorrow  the  beauteous  image  of  the  early  lost. 

The  death  of  little  chikben  is  admitted  both  in  the 
representations  of  Scripture  and  personal  experience,  to 
be  among  the  most  painful  bereavements  of  providence 
- —  one  of  the  most  crushing  of  earthly  trials.  The  grief 
of  repentance  over  the  sufferings  of  Christ  is  compared 
by  an  inspired  prophet,  ''  to  the  bitter  mourning  of  a 
father  for  his  child."     And  the  wail  of  bereaved  affec- 


116  ^HE  DSATii   OF  LITTLE   CIilLDREN. 

tion  over  the  heartless  massacre  of  tlie  children  at 
Bethlehem,  is  described  with  imagery  most  sad  and 
touching,  ''  a  mother  long  dead  stirring  in  her  grave 
at  the  cry  of  her  children,  and  rising  from  the  dust 
which  was  moistened  with  their  blood  that  she  might 
water  it  with  her  tears."  In  Rama  was  then  a  voice 
heard,  lamentation  and  weeping  and  great  mournings 
Rachel  weeping  for  her  children  and  would  not  be 
comforted  because  they  are  not.  Matt.  xi.  18. 

It  is  in  the  experience  of  all  a  bitter  angui-sh.  It  is 
so  to  the  father  accustomed  as  he  is  to  the  sterner  scenes 
and  conflicts  of  life.  '^  There  is  a  vacancy  in  his  home 
and  a  heaviness  in  his  heart ; "  and  he  weeps  in  all  the 
tenderness  of  wounded  affection — -"In  all  the  silent 
manliness  of  grief." 

But  no  one  feels  the  death  of  a  child  as  a  mother ; 
its  infancy  was  pillowed  on  her  bosom;  every  gleam 
of  intelligence  and  beauty  unfolded  under  her  eye; 
every  smile  of  responsive  endearment  has  sunned  her 
heart ;  every  lisping  of  its  affection  is  among  her  trea- 
sured memories.  It  has  been  around  her  home  as  a 
gleam  of  sunshine,  and  its  innocent  prattle  was  the 
music  of  her  life.  It  is  bound  to  her  heart  by  so  many 
Bweet  remembrances  and  associations,  by  a  love  so  deep 


THE   DEATH    OE   LITTLE   CHILDREN.  117 

and  tender,  that  its  death  is  hke  the  breaking  of  a  thou- 
sand quivering  ties.  She  leans  over  its  last  sickness 
with  painful  suspense,  watching  the  faint  ebbings  of 
life  —  the  flickering  light  of  its  closing  eyes,  and  turns 
away  from  its  looks  of  death — 

"  I  cannot  see  thee  die :  I  cannot  brook 

Upon  thy  brow  to  look, 
And  see  death  settle  on  my  cradle  joy. 

And  oh !  my  last  caress 
Must  feel  thee  cold,  for  a  chill  hand  is  on  thee." 

And  when  the  dread  consciousness  comes  over  the 
soul  like  a  chilling  death-shade,  "the  child  is  dead," 
the  heart  is  smitten  and  afflicted  with  a  grief  too  deep 
for  human  sympathy,  a  sorrow  too  henYj  for  any  hand 
to  lift  but  God's.  And  after  the  first  outgushings  of 
grief  are  over  and  the  mourners  have  gone  to  the  grave 
and  placed  the  loved  form  in  the  long  night  of  the 
sepulchre  to  see  it  here  no  more,  the  sorrowing  heart 
takes  its  last'  leave — 

"And  so  farewell! 
^Tis  a  harsh  world,  in  which  affection  knows 
No  place  to  treasure  up  its  loved  and  lost 
But  the  foul  grave.^' 

That  is  a  moment  of  bitter  grief;  and  when  they 
return  to  the  home  all  shaded  and  still,  the  gleam  of 


118  THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

sunshine  that  was  there  is  gone  and  hnshed  is  the 
voice  of  gladness.  And  as  yearning  aiFection  asks 
will  the  loved  child  never  return  to  ns  ?  "  I^evermore  !" 
0  nevermore  !  "  The  heart  is  like  an  empty  mansion 
and  that  word  goes  echoing  through  its  desolate  cham- 
bers." 

O,  there  is  a  feeling  of  sadness  and  desolation  in  the 
heart ;  and  bereavement,  dimmed  with  tears  and  faint- 
ing with  sorrow,  sighs  for  light  and  comfort  more  than 
human.  And  is  there  no  light  from  Heaven  to  cheer 
that  home  of  gloom  ?  Is  there  no  balm  in  our  holy 
religion  to  soothe  the  wounded  affections  ?  Are  there 
no  words  of  Jesus  for  the  weeping  Eachels,  who  turn 
away  from  human  sympathy,  and  refuse  to  be  comforted 
because  their  children  are  not  ? 

Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord — there  is  light, 
there  is  balm,  there  are  words  of  Jesus  for  the 
anguished  heart — words  like  those  once  spoken  to  the 
tossing  sea,  "  Peace,  be  still ! "  words  which,  when 
spoken  to  the  tossed  and  troubled  heart,  diffuse  there  a 
sweet,  holy,  and  heavenly  peace. 

Let  us  turn  from  the  dark  and  earthly  side  of  the 
picture,  to  its  bright  and  spiritual  phase,  and  view  the 
light  reflected  from  the  Bible  upon  this  scene  of  affliction. 


THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN.  119 

The  Bible  teaclies  tlie  mourners  to  trace  their 
•bereavement  to  the  hand  of  God,  and  inspires  the  con- 
viction that  that  hand  is  never  stretched  out  to  his 
people  but  in  mercy ;  and  that  its  most  painful  touches 
are  but  the  chastenings  of  a  Father's  love. 

I.  This  is  the  first  source  of  consolation  to  the 
bereaved  parents;  a  higher  and  purer  ground  and 
principle  of  submission  than  even  that  derived  from  the 
consoling  thought  of  the  child's  blessedness ;  and  has 
been  realized  as  a  substantial  source  of  comfort,  even 
without  the  latter  element  of  joy. 

Our  bereavements  come  from  God.  It  is  not  chance 
— it  is  not  a  blind  and  ruthless  fate  that  takes  the  little 
ones  from  the  warm  embrace  of  parental  love.  It  is 
the  hand  of  God.  ^or  must  we  lose^  sight  of  this  hand 
because  veiled  behind  his  laws.  There  is  dano-er  in 
this,  because  there  is  in  the  operation  of  secondary 
causes  a  deceptive  veil  spread  over  the  senses,  that 
fpvvors  the  delusion. 

If  we  had  seen  the  vexed  prophet  beside  his  withered 
gourd,  we  should  scarcely  have  thought  of  tracing  that 
shrivelled  plant  to  the  hand  that  stretched  abroad  the 
Heavens  as  a  curtain ;  and  if  we  had  gone  up,  and 
from  a  closer  inspection  found  the  reptile  preying  on 


120  THE    DEATH    OP    LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

its  roots,  the  discovery  of  this  immediate  cause  of  its 
withering  would  naturally  tend  to  exclude  from  our 
minds  any  recognition  of  the  Divine  agency.  And  in 
accounting  for  the  matter,  we  should  be  likely  to  say 
that  the  worm  destroyed  Jonah's  gourd,  without  any 
ulterior  reference  to  the  hand  of  God.  This  is  the 
popular  delusion  in  regard  to  Divine  Providence. 

If  pestilence  stalk  through  the  land,  ye  say,  This  is  God's  doing; 

Is  it  not  also  his  doing  when  an  Aphis  creepeth  on  a  rose-bud? 

If   an   avalanche   roll   from   its  Alps,  ye  tremble   at  the  will   of 

Providence  ; 
Is  not  that  will  concerned  when  the  sere  leaves  fall  from  the  poplar  ? 

TUPPER. 

And  SO  if  that  ephemeral  shelter  of  the  prophet  had 
been  scathed  by  the  lightning,  the  spontaneous  feeling 
would  have  been,  it  is  the  hand  of  God  ;  but  seeing  a 
worm  at  its  root,  the  fading  of  the  plant  is  sufficiently 
accounted  for,  without  the  recognition  of  any  higher 
power. 

And  by  the  same  delusion,  if  a  child  were  struck  by 
lightning  in  its  mother's  arms,  we  would  be  ready  to 
acknowledge  in  that  flash  the  radiant  finger  of  God. 
But  if  a  child  gradually  fades  and  dies  by  some  obvious 
disease,  then  we  lose  sight  of  God.  But  what  says  the 
Bible  ?     "What  does  it  say  of  that  gourd  withering  over 


THE   DEATH   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN.  121 

the  head  of  the  angry  prophet  ?  "  God  prepared  a 
worm  when  the  morning  rose  the  next  day,  and  it 
smote  the  gourd,  that  it  withered."  So  that  even  when 
we  can  see  the  immediate  cause  of  events,  we  are  still 
to  refer  them  to  the  mediate  agency  of  Ood. 

In  this  view  of  divine  providence,  we  are  to  regard 
our  bereavements  as  proceeding  from  God.  Death, 
like  every  other  event,  is  entirely  under  his  dominion. 
It  is  the  divine  prerogative  both  to  impart  life  and  to 
take  it  away ;  so  that  whatever  may  be  the  immediate 
cause  of  death,  it  must  still  be  traced  to  Hirn^  in  whose 
hand  our  breath  is ;  so  that  every  one  who  is  bereaved 
of  a  child  has  reason  to  believe  and  say,  "It  is  the 
Lord."  David  in  his  bereavement,  tracing  his  sorrow 
up  to  God,  exclaims,  "  Thou  didst  it."  And  Job,  in  a 
similar  affliction,  gives  expression  to  the  same  senti- 
ment, "  The  Lord  hath  taken  away." 

This  is  the  true  ground  of  submission  and  consola- 
tion. The  duty  is  both  obvious  and  pleasant.  It  is  to 
be  still  and  know  that  he  is  God.  If  your  bereavement 
is  from  God,  then  it  is  not  only  wise  and  just,  but  per- 
fectly kind  and  benevolent.  And  the  conviction  ''  that 
he  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of 
men" — "that  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth" — 
11 


122  THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN, 

is  adequate  reason  for  the  most  cheerful  and  unreserved 
submission  under  the  severest  trials.  In  this  recogni- 
tion of  the  divine  hand,  and  quiet  submission  to  the 
divine  will,  there  is  sweet  and  substantial  consolation ; 
there  is  in  that  veiy  acquiescent  state  of  mind,  that 
conscious  harmony  of  the  heart  with  the  will  of  God, 
a  sweet  and  heavenly  peace,  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing. 

I  know  the  loss  of  a  child  is  a  painful  touch  of  the 
divine  hand ;  it  is  like  rending  the  very  fibres  of  the 
heart,  and  the  agonized  affections  seek  for  relief  and 
comfort ;  and  it  is  a  holy  and  delicate  office  to  adminis- 
ter consolation  to  the  wounded  spirit.  But  we  know 
of  no  consolation  for  that  forlorn  and  desolate  heart, 
but  in  the  Great  Providence  of  God;  but  in  seeing 
that  their  bereavement  is  not  "  a  chance  blow,  a  ran- 
dom accident,  set  apart  from  its  beneficent  dominion." 
I  can  see  no  other  comfort  for  the  mourner ;  and  hard 
as  it  may  be  for  the  bleeding  heart  to  look  upon  a  trial 
so  painful,  as  a  kind,  sacred,  and  solemn  dispensation 
of  heaven,  *'  this  I  would  pray  each  one  to  do,  to  lean 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  All-wise  Providence,  and  to 
sa^,  even  as  the  Great  Sufferer  said  in  the  dread  hour, 


THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN.  123 

wlien  all  eartlily  evils  and  sorrows  were  leagued  against 
him,  "  Father !  thy  will  be  done  ! " — 

*'  Whate'er  thy  will  ordains, 
O  give  me  strength  to  bear; 
Still  let  me  know  a  Father  reigns, 
And  trust  a  Father's  care." 

And  that  it  is  not  a  mere  religious  commoiuplace  to 
say  that  this  trust  can  help  us,  that  a  humble,  childlike 
faith  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  can  bring  com- 
fort in  the  darkest  hours  of  human  sorrow,  is  evident 
from  the  beautiful  illustrations  in  Scripture,  and  in  our 
own  day,  of  such  submission  and  such  divine  consola- 
tion in  bereavement. 

David,  when  his  mind  was  in  painfull  conflict  on  the 
loss  of  some  dear  relative  or  friend,  realized  in  his 
bereavement  the  hand  of  God,  and  bowed  in  humble 
submission  to  the  divine  will ;  and  more  than  this,  he 
seemed  to  be  happy  when  he  said,  "  I  was  dumb,  I 
opened  not  my  mouth,  because  thou  didst  it."  Job 
appeared  to  be  happy  when  he  said,  "The  Lord  gave, 
and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord." 

And  there  seemed  to  be  a  calm  and  happy  feeling  in 
the  answer  of  the  Shunamite,  "It  is  well,"  when  the 


124  THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDEEE'. 

child  of  her  age,  her  only  child,  had  just  expired  in  her 
arms.  He  was  given  "  like  a  flower  in  winter,  to  cheer 
the  aged  parents  with  its  unexpected  fragrance,  and  its 
late  and  delicate  heauty . ' '  Its  smile  hrightened  the  falhng 
shadows  of  life's  evening,  and  their  quiet  home  echoed 
with  the  merry  voice  of  childhood ;  and  now  that  late 
sweet  flower  is  withered ;  the  shadows  fall  deeper  and 
darker  than  hefore,  since  that  child  that  was  as  a  tran- 
sient light  is  gone ;  it  was  a  hitter  sorrow,  and  yet  she 
could  answer  "  It  is  well ; "  and  in  the  feeling  of  acqui- 
escence in  the  divine  will  which  prompted  that  answer 
there  was  not  only  suhmission,  hut  a  secret  and  shaded 

joy. 

Let  those  who  are  called  to  experience  this  bitter 
sorrow  "hear  the  rod,  and  who  hath  appointed  it;'* 
let  them  feel  "it  is  the  Lord,"  and  that  God  is  good, 
and  all  that  concerns  them  is  the  care  of  infinite  love. 
This  confidence  of  love  will  difl'use  heavenly  consolation 
through  the  sorrowing  heart.  In  childlike  confidence 
repose  your  burdened  spirit  upon  the  bosom  of  that 
Saviour  who  was  sent  "  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted, 
to  give  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness ; "  and  you  will 
realize  a  holy  rest  and  joy  in  God. 


THE  DEATH  OP  LITTLE   CHILDREN.  125 

"  While  you  feel  your  wounds  are  healing. 
While  the  heart  is  all  resigned ; 
Tis  the  solemn  feast  of  feeling, 
'Tis  the  Sabbath  of  the  mind,"  —  Montgomery. 

n.  The  second  source  of  consolation  to  the  bereaved 
parents,  is  the  conviction  of  the  child's  immortal  bless- 
edness in  heaven. 

It  is  a  sentiment  well-nigh  universal,  that  all  children 
who  die  in  a  state  of  infancy  are  saved ;  I  know  that 
some  system-bound  expositors  of  the  Bible  have  ex- 
pressed the  sentiment  in  a  somewhat  dubious  form; 
"  it  is  probable,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  all  infants  are 
saved,"  but  that  sentiment  has  never  found  an  echo  in 
a  sorrowing  heart,  it  is  abjured  by  all  the  religious 
intuitions  of  the  bereaved  Christian,  and  as  we  con- 
ceive by  the  teachings  of  the  divine  word  and  the 
whole  scheme  of  redemption ;  and  it  is  well,  that  on  a 
subject  of  such  touching  interest  to  bereaved  aifection, 
there  is  not  left  a  lingering  shadow  to  obscure  the 
pleasing  hope. 

Without  entering  here  upon  an  elaborate  argument 

for  infant  salvation,  we  remark  that  our  belief  in  this 

cherished  doctrine  is  derived  mainly  from  the  nature 

and   comprehensive   scheme   of  redemption,  and  the 

11* 


126  THE   DEATH   OF   LITTLE    CHILDKEN. 

several  utterances  of  the  Saviour  concerning  children 
which  obviously  involve  the  doctrine. 

Christ  has  died  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and 
his  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin;  he  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.  There  is  no  evasion  of  the  fact 
that  infants  are  involved  in  the  fall  of  Adam  and  are 
born  with  a  depraved  heart :  the  Psalmist  acknow- 
ledged the  corruption  of  his  nature,  ''Lo,  in  iniquity  I 
was  born  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me." 

The  iniquity  and  sin  meant  are  not  those  of  his 
mother,  but  his  own  (Alexander  on  the  Psalms).  Paul 
says,  "The  Scripture  hath  concluded  all  under  sin." 
Infants  are  sinners  in  the  important  sense,  that  they  as 
well  as  the  adult  can  be  saved  only  by  the  death  of 
Christ;  it  is  this  fact  which  places  them  within  the 
sphere  of  redeeming  grace ;  it  is  because  they  are  sin- 
ners in  the  sense  just  indicated  that  we  are  authorized 
to  believe  that,  dying  in  infancy,  they  are  saved  by 
grace,  they  have  never  by  any  pei^onal  conscious  act 
disobeyed  the  will  of  God,  never  by  voluntary  unbelief 
rejected  the  Saviour  or  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  are 
therefore  saved  by  the  grace  of  Christ.  Any  other 
view  would  be  utterly  at  variance  with  the  whole 
scheme  of  redeeming  mercy,  and  confound  all  our  con- 


THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDKEN.  12^ 

ceptions   of  the   equity   and  goodness   of  the   divine 
government. 

The  doctrinal  aspect  of  the  subject  is  forcibly 
expressed  in  an  old  epitaph :  — 

^  Bold  Infidelity,  turn  pale  and  die ; 
Beneath  this  stone  four  infant  bodies  lie. 

Say,  are  they  lost  or  saved  ? 
If  Death's  by  sin,  they  sinned  —  for  they  lie  here ; 
If  Heaven's  by  works,  in  Heaven  they  can't  appear. 
Eeason,  oh,  how  depraved!  revere  the  sacred  page; 
They  died,  for  Adam  sinned ;  they  live,  for  Jesus  died. 

The  same  truth  is  inolved  in  what  Christ  on  diiFer- 
ent  occasions  said  concerning  little  children  :  "  Of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  primary  meaning  of 
the  Saviour  in  this  declaration,  no  doubt,  is,  that  his 
kingdom  is  composed  of  such  as  possess  the  childlike 
temper  and  disposition.  But  does  it  not,  by  a  neces- 
sary implication,  include  children  in  that  kingdom? 
Would  it  not  involve  the  most  glaring  solecism  to  pre- 
dicate salvation  of  those  who  resemble  children  in  their 
temper  and  disposition,  and  yet  exclude  from  Heaven 
those  whom  they  resemble  ? 

"We  are,  therefore,  forced  by  any  fair  construction  of 
our  Lord's  words,  to  the  inference  that  if  his  kingdom 
here    is   composed   of   such   as   possess  the   childlike 


1'28  THE   DEATH   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

temper,  his  kingdom  there  is  made  up  in  an  eminent 
degree  of  little  children. 

The  declarations  of  Christ,  in  the  eighteenth  chapter 
of  Matthew,  are  of  similar  import.  *' Except  ye  be 
converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  Whosoever,  there- 
fore, shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same 
is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  Even  so  it  is 
not  the  will  of  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven,  that 
one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish."  Matt,  xviii. 
8,  4,  14. 

There  is  no  admissible  exposition  of  these  several 
passages,  that  does  not  necessarily  involve  the  salvation 
of  children. 

This  precious  doctrine  is,  therefore,  founded  upon 
the  atonement  of  Christ,  including  children  who  are 
saved  by  grace,  and  whose  salvation  is  affirmed  by  the 
Saviour  in  those  words  declarative  of  their  meetness 
for  his  Heavenly  kingdom.  So  that  the  bereaved 
parent  may  feel  the  consoling  assurance  that  the  same 
Saviour  who  once  said  of  the  little  ones,  "  Of  such  is 
the  Idngdom  of  God,"  has  taken  their  loved  one  as  a 
lamb,  "  safely  folded  where  the  spoiler  can  never  come." 
And  in  this  assurance  of  faith  and  hope  exclaim  — 
"  Not  lost,  but  gone  before/^ 


THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN.  129 

Eemember,  that  though  the  tie  which  hound  that 
child  to  you  is  broken,  it  can  never  be  separated  from 
God ;  and  from  you,  if  a  Christian,  only  for  a  season. 
Let  this  hope  cheer  your  saddened  heart,  and  span  the 
dark  cloud  that  hangs  over  your  home  with  the  beaute- 
ous bow  of  promise.  And  painful  as  it  may  be  to  take 
that  cherished  form  from  your  bosom,  and  hide  it  in 
the  gloom  of  the  sepulchre,  remember  that  Jesus  has 
sanctified  the  grave.  And  as  you  go  there  to  meditate 
in  mingled  feelings  of  hope  and  sorrow,  think  of  those 
little  graves  as  but  ''the  cradles  where,  in  the  quiet 
motions  of  the  globe,  Jesus  rocks  his  sleeping  children. 
And  that  by  and  by  he  will  wake  them  from  their 
slumber,  and  in  the  arms  of  angels  they  shall  be  trans- 
lated to  the  skies." 

"  Asleep  in  Jesus  !  peaceful  rest, 
Whose  waking  is  supremely  blest." 

But,  in  connection  with  this  one  great  sustaining 
hope,  there  are  various  collateral  aspects  of  early  death 
of  special  application  to  bereaved  parents,  and  which 
''  suggest  the  richest  and  sweetest  compensations"  for 
their  painful  loss. 

In  the  translation  of  your  child  to  heaven  in  its  in- 
fant innocence  and  beauty,  all  your  plans  and  hopes 


130  THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

concerning  it  have  been  fulfilled.  Painful  as  it  may 
be,  its  death  is  in  fact  the  realization  of  more  than  your 
brightest  dreams  and  hopes  of  the  future. 

You  had  perhaps  planned  its  education,  the  develop- 
ment of  its  mind,  and  the  unfolding  of  its  moral  na- 
ture, and  its  adornment  with  all  intellectual  refinement 
and  graceful  accomplishments ;  and  for  the  execution 
of  this  cherished  plan,  you  feel  that  you  would  be  pre- 
pared to  endure  the  self-denials  and  privations  con- 
nected -^ith  expenditure  of  means  and  the  child's 
absence  from  home.  But,  whilst  you  are  planning  and 
dreaming  of  the  future,  the  child  dies.  What  then  ? 
Are  your  plans  frustrated,  and  your  hopes  turned  into 
mere  illusions  of  the  fancy  ?     Xot  at  all. 

**  Ere  sin  could  blight,  or  sorrow  fade, 
Death  came  with  friendly  care, 
The  opening  bud  to  Heaven  conveyed 
And  bade  it  blossom  there."  —  Coleridge. 

It  is  transferred  to  the  infant  school  of  heaven,  for 
the  peculiar  training  of  these  buds  and  blossoms  of 
immortal  being.  It  is  placed  in  the  school  of  Heaven, 
under  the  tuition  of  the  Great  Teacher,  with  the  com- 
panionship of  angels ;  a  school  where  the  only  "  disci- 
pline is  love,  the  only  lesson  immortality."     And  can 


THE    DEATH    OF    LITILE    CHILDREN.  131 

you  murmur  when  God  has  interposed  to  execute  your 

most  cherished  scheme,  only  in  a  different  form  and  on 

an  infinitely  higher  and  grander  scale  ?     Can  you  not 

patiently  bear  the  temporary  absence  of  your  child 

from  the  home-circle,  knowing  that  it  is  only  at  school, 

inspired  with  the  hope  of  meeting  it  there,  radiant  with 

celestial  wisdom  ?  and  perhaps  realize  the  fancy  of  the 

poet,  in  the  confession, 

"  Thou  art  to  me  a  parent  now, 
And  I  a  child  to  thee." 

But,  as  a  Christian  parent,  your  tenderest  solicitude 
is  for  the  moral  culture  and  spiritual  well-being  of  the 
child.  It  is  the  growth  of  that  child,  surrounded  with 
an  atmosphere  infected  by  sin,  exposed  to  the  wiles  of 
the  Great  Destroyer,  and  the  seductive  charms  of  sin- 
ful pleasure,  to  which  its  native  proclivity  to  evil  but 
too  readily  responds ;  it  is  this  prospective  exposure 
and  consequent  imperilled  suspense  of  its  moral  des- 
tiny, that  fills  you  often  with  sleepless  anxieties  and 
wrestling  prayer.  And  if  it  should  live,  with  what 
painful  emotions  would  you  witness  the  first  ebullitions 
of  sinful  passion,  the  first  flashes  of  anger,  the  first 
developments  of  that  moral  virus,  which,  "  however  it 
may  brood  for  a  season,  in  a  sort  of  ambiguous  con- 


132  THE    DEATH    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

cealraent,  among  the  inscrutable  mysteries  of  an  in- 
fant's spirit,"  so  soon  gives  painful  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  we  are  all  born  in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity. 
And  who  but  a  parent  knows  the  watchings  and 
prayers,  and  tremblings  of  the  heart  for  a  child  in 
these  circumstances,  and  how  every  expedient  that 
affection  can  devise,  or  divine  wisdom  has  suggested, 
is  employed,  with  prayer,  to  direct  that  child  to  the 
Lamb  of  God,  to  shield  it  from  the  evil  that  is  in  the 
world,  to  train  it  to  virtue,  and  purity  and  holiness. 
This,  if  you  are  a  Christian  parent  at  all  conscious  of 
your  responsibility,  you  have  experienced,  and  can 
m.oreover  testify  that  your  intensest  aims  and  hopes  for 
your  child  all  culminate  in  its  final  salvation  in  heaven. 
But  your  child  is  dead  —  gone  before  its  heart  had 
learned  to  sin,  or  its  sportive  feet  to  stray  —  gone 
"  Gentle  and  undefiled, 
With  blessings  on  its  head." 

Then  this  bereavement,  so  sad  and  touching,  is  in  fact 
the  dissipation  of  all  your  fears,  and  the  consummation 
of  all  your  hopes.  Your  little  one  is  beyond  the  reach 
of  sin  and  pain — 

"  Yes,  thou  art  fled — ere  guilt  had  power 

To  stain  thy  cherub  soul  and  form  ; 

Closed  is  the  soft  ephemeral  flower 

That  never  felt  a  storm  1 " 


THE    DEATH   OF   LITTLE    CHILDREN.  133 

It  is  gone  where  no  sin  can  enter,  and  no  spoiler  come. 
It  is  enrobed  mth  the  rigliteonsness  of  Jesus,  and  its 
infant  voice  is  attuned  to  a  music  and  praise  sweeter 
tlian  angels  use.  Its  heart  is  filled  with  a  bliss  and 
rapture  unknown  on  earth ;  imparadised  in  the  bosom 
of  Infinite  Love ! 

And  much  as  you  feel  its  loss,  painfully  as  you  miss 
its  sunny  face  and  innocent  prattle  and  affectionate 
greetings  in  the  home  gatherings ;  does  it  not,  now 
that  the  violence  of  your  grief  is  subsiding,  seem 
a  gentle  and  gracious  dispensation  that  removed  it  from 
the  evil  to  come  ? 

K  that  vision  of  beauty  had  remained,  how  soon  its 
brightness  had  been  shaded  with  sorrow,  soiled  by  sin, 
and  marred  by  passion  !     But — 

"Now  not  a  sullying  breath  can  rise 
To  dim  its  glory  in  the  skies  !  '^ 

No  !  can  you  not  say,  T^o  !  child  of  my  love,  I  would 

not  call  thee  back  from  thy  pure  and  sinless  and  blissful 

home  in  the  skies,  to  this  home  on  earth,  shaded  with 

sin  and  sorrow !    I  would  not  call   thee   back  to  this 

yearning  heart  from   the   bosom   of   the    everlasting 

Father ! 
12 


134  THE   DEATH   OF   LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

"No  !  angel,  keep  thy  place 
Amid  heaven's  cherub  train." 
Feel  thy  loss  I  must ;  weep  indeed,  I  may : — 
"  But  not  that  from  this  cup  of  bitterness 
A  cherub  of  the  sky  has  turn'd  away." 

And  I  can  bow  my  heart  to  this  bereavement,  not 
only  with  unmurmuring  submission,  but  with  a  chas- 
tened pleasure  and  grateful  joy.  "  The  Lord  gave,  and 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 


THE    MISSION    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN.         135 


n. 


The  Mission  of  Little  Children. 

The  sage,  and  the  beetle  at  his  feet,  hath  each  a  ministration  to  perform ; 
Search  out  the  wisdom  of  nature,  there  is  depth  in  all  her  doings ; 
A  final  cause  for  the  aromatic  gum,  that  congealeth  the  moss  around  a  rose  : 
A  reason  for  each  blade  of  grass  that  reareth  its  small  spire.  —  Tuppek. 

There  is  nothing  insulated,  nothing  useless  among 
all  the  products  of  the  Divine  Hand.  Eveiy  thing  has 
its  determined  position  and  its  use. 

"  In  the  perfect  circle  of  creation,  not  an  atom  could 
be  spared : 

From  earth's  magnetic  zone  to  the  bindweed  round 
a  hawthorn." 

Upon  all  the  works  of  God  may  be  seen  the  inscrip- 
tion, "  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself."  A  popular  writer 
of  books  for  children,  gives  the  following  illustration 
of  this  sentiment.  He  questions  the  rose  as  it  hangs 
on  its  frail  stem  in  the  garden.  "Why  do  you  hang 
there,  beautiful  flower?  "  "  I  hang  here  to  sweeten  the 
air  which  man  breathes,  to  open  my  beauties  to  kindle 
emotion  in  his  eye,  to  show  him  the  hand  of  God  who 


136        THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

pencilled  every  leaf,  and  laid  it  tlius  carefully  on  my 
bosom;  and  whether  you  find  me  here  to  greet  him 
every  morning  with  my  opening  face,  or  folding  myself 
np  under  the  cool  curtains  of  evening,  my  end  is  the 
same.     I  live  not  to  myself." 

And  thus  upon  all  his  works  is  inscribed  the  same 
lesson  —  upon  every  atom  and  every  world  —  upon 
every  drop  of  dew  that  feasts  an  insect  or  refreshes  a 
flow^er,  and  upon  every  rose  that  diffuses  its  sweetness 
through  the  air. 

That  verse  in  the  classic  Elegy  of  Gray,  so  common 
and  so  universally  admired,  which  speaks  of  flowers 
wasting  their  sweetness,  &c.,  though  beautiful  as  a  poeti- 
cal effusion  is  not  true.  Without  losing  any  of  its  poetical 
beauty,  it  has  been  more  correctly  rendered  thus  : — 

"  No  humble  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  fragrance  on  the  desert  air ; 
Although  it  bloom  where  man  has  never  been, 
Its  Maker  loves  to  see  its  beauty  there." 

And  if  this  be  true  of  sweet  flowers  that  scent  the 
morn  and  wither  in  the  sun  at  noon,  we  surely  cannot 
say  less  of  little  children  —  those  immortal  buds  and 
blossoms  that  beautify  the  homes  of  earth,  and  then 
fade  and  die.     ISTo ;  that  little  child,  though  its  visit  be 


THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN.         1B7 

transient  as  the  dew  of  the  morning,  which  the  warm 
sun  exhales  back  again  to  the  skies,  hved  not  in  vain. 
It  came  as  an  angel  on  a  mission  of  love.  It  came  as 
a  messenger  of  mercy  to  the  home  it  gladdened  by  its 
birth,  and  brightened  by  its  ephemeral  but  beautiful 
life,  and  then  left  shaded  and  sad,  as  it  vanished  like 
a  vision  of  beauty,  or  a  dream  of  the  night. 

"We  propose  to  speak  of  the  Mission  of  Little  Chil- 
dren in  the  following  aspects :  — Their  birth  —  life  — 
death  —  memory. 

I. 

TJie  Advent  of  a  Little  Child  into  the  Family. 

"  A  babe  in  a  bouse  is  a  well-spring  of  pleasure,  a  messenger  of  peace  and 

love : 
A  resting  place  for  innocence  on  eartb  ;  a  link  between  angels  and  men  ; 
A  delight,  but  redolent  of  care." 

Its  advent  is  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  family.  It 
awakens  thoughts  and  feelings  unknown  before.  The 
mother  is  conscious  of  a  new  fountain  unsealed  in 
her  soul,  gushing  with  thoughts  of  tenderness  and  joy. 
There  is  a  new  sympathy  with  life;  and  new  hopes 
dawn  and  hover  over  the  infant  cradle.  And  how  can 
it  be  otherwise  than  that  the  parents,  as  they  gaze  upon 
that  immortal  nursling  entrusted  to  them  in  all  its  con- 
12* 


138 

ficling  lielplessness,  should  be  conscious  of  new  respon* 
sibilities,  and  feel  the  pulsations  of  an  interest  and  a 
love  unfelt  before. 

"We  are  touched  with  an  interest  in  objects  in  some 
measure  corresponding  to  their  inherent  peculiarities 
and  endowments.  The  unfolding  rosebud  is  an  object 
of  greater  interest  to  the  mind  than  the  sparkling 
diamond;  because  in  the  former  we  recognize  the 
mysterious  functions  of  life  secretly  working  on,  until 
it  greets  the  eye  with  its  full-blow^n  beauty.  And  for 
the  same  reason  a  singing-bird  is  an  object  of  greater 
interest  than  the  rarest  flower ;  because  we  recognize 
something  more  in  it  than  vegetative  life,  as  it  goes 
warbling  its  music  through  the  air,  the  "  outgushings 
of  the  little  creature's  sweet,  innocent,  happy  soul." 
And  for  similar  reasons  the  most  beautiful  and  artistic 
sculpture  of  Greece  is  nothing  as  an  object  of  thought, 
in  comparison  to  a  poor  sickly  child  that  crawds  on  a 
cottage  floor. 

"What,  then,  must  be  the  thoughts  and  interest 
awakened  in  the  minds  of  reflecting  parents  by  that 
little  child,  whose  diminutive  form  '^  belies  the  soul's 
immensity  !"  What  their  thoughts  of  responsibility,  in 
the  conviction  that  in  that  little  form,  that  beautiful 


THE   MISSION   OF  LITTLE   CHILDREN.         130 

casket,  there  is  an  immortal  gem  that  shall  shine  when 
the  sun  is  dim  !  That  in  that  frail  and  delicate  form  is 
enfolded  the  germ  of  an  immortal  mind !  That  that 
scarcely  perceptible  spark  of  mind  may  rise  to  the 
dimensions  of  the  glowing _seraph,  rapt  in  a  bliss  which 
all  the  harps  of  Heaven  cannot  express.  Or  if  the 
radical  evil  of  its  nature  should  be  developed, 
unrestrained  by  Divine  grace,  unchecked  and  uncon- 
trolled by  judicious  parental  discipline,  left  to  the 
inherent  impulses  of  evil,  and  the  seductions  of  sin 
from  without,  it  may  grow  to  be  a  monster  of  iniquity 
in  this  life,  and  a  doomed  spirit  in  the  next— If  the 
parents  are  led  by  the  presence  of  that  little  babe  to 
ponder  its  future  possible  destiny,  and  to  reflect  that 
upon  them,  in  an  eminent  degree,  devolves  the  respon- 
sible duty  of  giving  the  first  impressions,  the  first  direc- 
tion to  that  infant  and  immortal  mind  —  That  they  are 
to  impress  on  that  plastic  nature  and  ductile  mind  the 
image  and  superscription  of  Jesus — 'That  on  them,  to 
a  great  degree,  will  depend  the  destiny  of  that  child ; 
whether  it  shall  hereafter  be  a  saint  in  gloiy,  or  forever 
an  outcast  from  Heaven :  Can  such  awakened  thoughts 
and  reflections  fail  to  exert  a  ii  oral  influence  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  fond  parents  the  most  solemn  and  salu- 


140        THE  MISSION  01?  LITTLE  ciiilbhen. 

taiy  ?  Can  the  mother,  with  all  the  gushing  tenderness 
of  a  new-horn  joy,  as  her  quickened  thoughts  go  out 
from  that  infant  cradle  to  roam  through  eternity,  be 
otherwise  than  conscious  of  a  responsibility  she  never 
felt  before  ? 

"  I  have  wept 
With  gladness,  at  the  gift  of  this  fair  child ! 
My  life  is  bound  up  in  her.     But,  oh  God  I 
Thou  know'st  how  heavily  my  heart  at  times 
Bears  its  sweet  burthen ;  and  if  thou  hast  given 
To  nurture  such  as  mine,  this  spotless  flower 
To  bring  it  unpolluted  unto  thee, 
Take  thou  its  love,  I  pray  thee  !  give  it  light ! 
■5fr        *        *        *        *    Leave  not  me 
To  bring  it  to  the  gates  of  heaven  alone ! " 

This  rousing  of  the  soul  to  great  spiritual  thoughts  — 
this  awakening  touch  of  the  nobler  sensibilities — this 
outflow  of  new-born  sympathies — ^this  consciousness  of 
responsibility  —  this  turning  of  the  heart  with  its  sweet 
burden  to  God  in  prayer  ; — this  in  itself  is  an  unspeak- 
able blessing  to  the  parent ;  and  if  this  were  all,  it  would 
be  worthy  that  little  angel's  mission,  though  its  visit 
should  be  transient  as  a  morning  dream. 

Eeligion  sanctifies  all  the  events  and  relations  of  life, 
and  to  devout  and  pious  parents  the  advent  of  a  little 
child    is  consecrated  by  holy  thoughts    and  heavenly 


THE   MISSION    OF   LITTLE    CHILDREN.  141 

aspirations.  When  a  now  soul  is  added  to  your  house- 
hold —  a  new  rose-bud  to  your  bosom  —  a  bright  par- 
ticular star  dropped  from  the  upper  sphere  and  dazzling 
in  your  diadem,  your  conscious  love  of  God  will  give 
the  heavenly  visitant  the  truest,  the  most  prophetic, 
and  most  blessed  baptismal  welcome.* 

n.  S'ow  beautiful  is  the  mission  of  a  little  child  in  the 
household !  It  is  there  "  like  a  gleam  of  sunshine,  and 
a  voice  of  pei^etual  gladness."  It  is  there  with  its 
bright  and  innocent  face  and  prattle,  to  diffuse  an  air 
of  cheerfulness  around  the  home-circle.  It  is  there  as 
a  "well-spring  of  XDleasure." 

The  very  presence  of  such  a  thing  of  beauty  and  inno- 
cence unconsciously  refines  and  spiritualizes  our  nature; 
what  varied  and  indefinable  influences  emanate  from  a 
little  child  in  the  midst  of  home !  It  is  human  nature 
fresh  from  the  hands  of  God,  like  a  flower  opening  in 
the  dewy  morning.  Its  pure  affections  —  its  artless 
friendship  —  its  undissembled  sincerity  —  its  gushes  of 
joy  —  its  nameless  touches  of  filial  endearment  —  its 
winning  caresses  when  its  heart  begins  to  open  to  the 
meaning  of  a  mother's  smile;  such  a  being,  such  a 
beautiful  impersonation  of  heavenly  innocence  and 
*  Theo.  Parker. 


142  THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

purity  in  the  liouseliold,  must  be  a  source  not  only  of 
pleasure,  but  of  influences  softening  and  purifying. 
When  the  father  comes  from  the  dusty  and  jostling 
scenes  of  business,  filled  with  care  —  his  spirit  soiled 
by  contact  with  sordid  and  selfish  intrigue,  or  by  the 
policy  and  insincerity  and  dissembled  friendship  of  the 
world ;  when  he  returns  from  such  scenes  to  the  sanc- 
tity of  home,  and  meets  there  a  little  child  with  its 
sunny  smile  and  lisping  welcome,  its  artless  sincerity 
and  pure  afiection,  he  feels  something  of  a  childlike 
temper  and  s^Dirit  transferred  into  his  own,  something 
that  soothes  his  fevered  spirit  and  vexing  cares,  and  re- 
attunes  his  heart  to  the  gentler  movement  and  harmony 
of  the  afiections,  and  he  feels  himself  a  better  and  hap- 
pier man.  "With  what  touching  simplicity  has  Burns, 
in  his  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Kight,"  pictured  this  idea. 

"  The  lisping  infant  prattling  on  his  knee, 
Does  a'  his  weary  carking  cares  beguile, 
An'  makes  him  quite  forget  his  labor  and  his  toil." 

We  need  just  such  an  influence  to  counteract  the 
coarser  tendencies  of  the  cares  of  life,  and  to  soften  the 
asperities  engendered  by  attrition  with  the  world,  and 
to  evolve  the  gentle  feelings  and  sympathies  of  the 
heart,  and  keep  them  fresh  and  youthful.     It  exerts  an 


THE    MISSION   OF    LITTLE    CHILDEEN.  143 

influence  on  us  like  that  attributed  by  Carlyle  to  the 
natural  strains  of  Burns,  amidst  the  choir  of  English 
poetry.  A  child,  by  its  purity  and  innocence,  by  shed- 
ding around  us  the  mirrored  sunshine  of  our  own  youth 
and  simplicity,  revives  "the  youthful  freshness  of  human 
feeling,  and  keeps  in  harmony  those  delicately  tuned 
chords  of  the  human  heart,  which,  in  the  trials  of  life, 
are  so  apt  to  lose  the  sweetness  of  their  primitive  me- 
lody." And  this  is  precisely  the  influence  of  a  little 
child  in  a  family.  It  is  there  as  a  beautiful  flower,  a 
memorial  of  the  Eden  lost,  and  most  perfect  emblem 
of  Eden  regained.  It  stands  still  where  it  was  placed 
by  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  the  disciples ;  and  it  is  there 
now,  as  it  was  then,  to  teach  ns  purity,  faith,  sincerity, 
simplicity ;  recalling,  by  association,  the  words  of  our 
Lord,  "Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little 
children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven." They  are  in  our  homes  as  the  most  eloquent 
little  preachers,  both  by  what  they  are  and  by  what 
they  recall ;  reminding  us  of  the  temper  and  disposition 
we  must  acquire  and  cherish,  and  the  character  we  must 
assume,  in  order  that  we  may  be  made  meet  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

Nor  should  we  overlook  this  influence  of  a  little  child 


144  THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE    CHILDEEN. 

in  the  family,  beciiuso  it  steals  over  us  and  into  us  so 
softly  and  insensibly,  any  more  than  we  should  question 
the  influence  of  light,  because  we  never  heard  the  sun 
shine.  Like  the  light  which  visits  us  every  morning 
so  softly  as  not  to  disturb  the  sleeping  infant,  yet 
quickens  all  nature  into  life  and  beauty,  so  gently  does 
this  influence  touch  the  very  life-roots  of  our  humanity, 
permeate  our  emotional  nature,  educing  the  gentler 
graces  of  the  spirit ;  an  influence  silent,  yet  vivifying 
as  the  glance  of  the  sunbeam ;  noiseless,  yet  refreshing 
as  the  morning  dew.  To  estimate  such  an  influence  by 
the  ordinary  tests  of  value,  would  be,  in  the  quaint 
figure  of  Carlyle,  as  absurd  as  to  estimate  the  value  of 
the  sun  by  the  amount  of  gas-light  that  is  saved  by  his 
shining ;  overlooking  his  universal  diflrasion  of  life  and 
warmth,  cresting  the  hills  with  beauty,  and  crowning 
the  summer-fields  with  the  golden  harvests. 

ni.  But  there  is  another  aspect  of  that  little  child  in 
the  midst  of  the  family,  in  which  its  mission  of  good 
is  perhaps  more  obvious  and  tangible,  though  not  so 
pleasing  in  the  experience.  It  is  there  not  only  as  an 
object  of  beauty  and  innocence,  but,  as  it  grows,  it  soon 
becomes  the  subject  of  discipline;  and  the  training  of 
that  little  one  becomes  to  the  parent  a  school  of  faith 


1:HE   MISSION   OP   LITTLE   CHILDEEH.  145 

and  patience  and  prayer.  Take  the  case  of  a  young 
mother.  Her  earher  hfe  has  been  one  of  comparative 
exemption  from  care,  with  but  httle  to  exercise  the 
virtues  of  faith  and  patient  endurance.  See  that  young 
mother  as  she  begins  the  disciphne  of  her  httle  child ; 
as  she  witnesses  the  first  ebullitions  of  passion,  the 
flashings  of  anger  in  the  scream  and  stamp,  the  mutter- 
ings  of  the  indomitable  will.  But  a  short  time  before 
it  was  the  gentle,  unconscious  infant  in  her  arms ;  now 
it  stands  before  her  invested  with  the  terrific  attribute 
of  will,  assuming  a  hostile  attitude  of  rebellion,  of  re- 
sistance to  authority.  And  thei'e  is  nothing  can  meet 
such  a  crisis  but  moral  firmness ;  nothing  can  success- 
fully control  and  subdue  that  will  in  its  first  outbursts 
of  passion  and  insubordination,  but  the  gentleness  and 
patience  of  piety,  and  the  conscious  strength  of  faith 
and  prayer.  And  if  that  mother  has  any  consciousness 
of  her  own  weakness,  and  the  interests  involved  in  such 
a  moment,  it  will  be  the  awakening  of  her  soul  to 
serious  thoughts  and  earnest  appeals  to  heaven  for  help, 
for  wisdom  and  grace  to  meet  a  crisis  so  fraught  with 
the  future  destiny  of  the  child. 

A  personal  friend,  some  time  since  related  to  me  a 
trial  of  this  kind  in  his   individual   experience.     His 
13 


146          THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN, 

child,  in  a  paroxj^sm  cf  passion,  defied  parental  autliar- 
ity ;  every  effort  of  tenderness  and  persuasion,  and  even 
severity,  seemed  but  to  exasperate  tlie  rebellion  of  the 
child  against  the  will  of  the  parent,  until  the  father,  in 
utter  despair  of  all  human  expedients  to  reach  the  ease^ 
caught  the  child  in  his  arms,  fell  on  his  knees,  and 
cried  to  God  for  help.  When  they  rose  from  prayer^ 
the  stubborn  will  was  broken,  and  the  rebellious  heart 
subdued,  and  the  child  was  meek  and  gentle  as  a  lamb. 
That  parent^  rising  from  that  conflict  crowned  with  vic- 
tory, from  that  prostration  of  his  soul  before  God  in 
prayer,  was  a  better  and  happier  man.  So  that  the 
parent,  in  the  very  process  of  disciplining  the  child,  was 
himself  the  subject  of  a  discipline  the  most  marked  and 
salutary ;  and  by  an  obvious  reflex  action,  the  training 
of  the  child  becomes  the  schooling  of  the  parent  in  all 
the  gi^aces  of  the  Spirit ;  so  that  the  child  is  the  occa- 
sion of  developing  and  perfecting  the  character  of  the 
parent,  whilst  in  the  process  of  its  educational  training. 
In  this  sense  we  recognize  an  important  mission  in 
little  children. 

And  then  how  often  are  they  made  more  directly  the 
messengers  of  mercy  to  the  parents !  In  how  many 
instances  has  the  utterance  of  religious  truth,  the  gentle 


THE     MISSION    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN.  147 

rebuke  from  the  lips  of  childhood,  touched  the  last 
chord  of  religious  sensibility  in  a  heart  that  has  been 
inaccessible  by  eveiy  other  means  !  How  often  have 
the  sweet  breathings  of  prayer,  or  the  lisping  of  infant 
hymns,  been  the  sanctified  means  of  salvatiou  to  irre- 
ligious parents !  Many  an  irreligious  father  has  been 
led  to  the  house  of  God  by  the  hand  of  childhood,  and 
manyapra^'erless  mother  has  been  directed  to  the  Lamb 
of  God  by  the  hsping  infant.  Kumerous  well-authen- 
ticated facts  might  be  adduced  confirmative  of  these 
statements,  but  they  will  readily  occur  to  the  mind  of 
the  reader. 

A  little  child,  as  it  rose  from  prayer,  just  before  going 
to  Sabbath  School,  in  all  the  simplicity  of  its  heart 
turned  to  its  mother  and  said,  "  Mother,  does  my  father 
ever  pray?"  This  question,  overheard  by  an  infidel 
father,  was  rai  awakening  word  to  his  soul.  That  scene 
in  a  religious  conference  in  the  "West,  has  many  a 
parallel  in  the  Chronicles  of  Eternity :  a  father  ix)se 
to  speak,  with  deep  emotion,  and  placing  his  hand 
upon  the  head  of  a  child  that  sat  by  his  side,  said 
^'Ilere  is  my  spiritual  father."  Verily,  '^out  of  the 
mouths  of  babes  and  suckhngs  thou  hast  perfected 
praise !  '* 


148         THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREK. 

IV.  "We  come  now  to  the  sad  but  holy  mission  of  a 
little  child  in  its  last  sickness  and  death.  The  suffer- 
ings of  a  sick  and  dying  child  are  among  the  most 
painful  and  mysterious  things  in  providence,  and  yet 
the  parent  and  the  child  m&j  he  happier  forever  for 
the  dark  cloud  that  brooded  over  its  cradled  infancy. 

The  vigil  of  parental  love  beside  a  sick  child  is  a 
sanctuary  of  rehgion.  Y/hat  a  nursery  of  patience^ 
and  holy  endurance,  and  prayer !  "What  an  unsealing 
within  us  of  all  tenderness  and  sympathy  !  What  ever- 
vaiying  ministrations  of  gentleness  and  love;  whilst 
with  every  office  of  affection  is  woven  some  new  link  of 
endearment !  And  when  the  scene  grows  darker,  and 
that  innocent  little  one  is  convulsed  with  pain  and 
suffering,  what  a  painful  sense  of  the  fact  and  evil  of 
sin,  is  the  sight  of  a  thiug  so  beautiful  and  pure 
doomed  to  suffer  and  die!  And  when  the  dreaded 
crisis  draws  near,  and  that  little  child,  in  the  convulsive 
throes  of  dissolving  nature,  turns  with  a  look  that 
pleads  so  tenderly  and  thrillingly  to  the  parents  for 
help,  oh!  then  must  the  parental  cry  go  up  to  the 
pitying  Heavens  for  help  ;  and  nothing  but  the  infinite 
and  immortal  can  help  them !  In  such  a  moment,  what 
is  all  of  earth  but  vanity,  and  all  earthly  hopes  but 


THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN.         149 

illusions  ?  and  the  heart  turns  to  the  everlasting  Gospel 
and  the  ever-compassionate  Saviour  for  something  upon 
which  to  rest,  and  seeks  the  everlasting  arms  to  bear 
them  up. 

What  a  mighty  spiritualizing  transformation  is 
wrought  in  the  soul  by  a  scene  and  an  experience  like 
this  !  That  touching  picture  of  Luther  beside  the  couch 
of  his  suffering  child,  has  many  repetitions  in  this  world 
of  sickness  and  death.  The  great  Reformer,  in  the 
bitterness  of  grief,  knelt  in  prayer  beside  his  dying 
Magdalen.  As  he  rose  in  tears,  he  caught  the  falter- 
ing accents  of  ^'weep  not  for  me,"  a  sweet  smile, 
like  a  transient  gleam  of  opening  Heaven,  resting  upon 
her  pale  face,  and  she  said,  "I  go  to  my  Father  in 
Heaven ;"  and  the  sweet  vv^ords  of  hope  awakened 
the  response  from  the  father's  sorrowing  heart — The 
%vill  of  the  Lord  be  done !  Yes,  she  has  gone  to  her 
Father  in  Heaven  !  Luther  was  a  better,  a  holier  man 
after  that  discipline  of  sorrow  beside  his  sick  and 
dying  child.  Magdalen  finished  her  mission  of  love  to 
the  great  Reformer,  and  returned  to  Heaven. 

How  often  does  the  last  scene  of  sickness  seem  to 
canonize  the  beautiful  religion  of  childhood  for  ever- 
lasting remembrance  !  The  touching  decay,  the  fading 
13* 


150        THE   MISSION   0'^  LITTLE  CSILtJRES'^ 

from  life,  seems  like  an  investment  of  immortal  beatit^y 
That  smile,  so  sweet  and  holy,  on  the  placid  brow  — • 
that  spiritual  brightness  of  the  eye^ — that  meek  and 
nnmnrmuring  submission  —  those  lispings  of  remem^* 
bered  hymns  about  Jesus  and  Heaven -^ — those  little 
hands  lifted  in  prayer,  that  seem  almost  to  open  to  out 
view  the  doors  of  eternity— and  that  final  trust  in  Jesus 
and  hope  of  Heaven  breathed  from  the  lips  of  a  dying 
child — 0  !  there  is  nothing  on  earth  can  awaken  within 
us  such  a  sense  of  the  Divine  beauty  and  preciousness 
of  our  holy  religion,  and  touch  our  hearts  with  such  a 
glow  of  a  Saviour's  love.  And  we  bless  God  for  such 
a  mission  of  angelic  goodness. 

And  beside  all  this,  what  eloquent  and  saving 
messages  and  appeals  have  been  made  by  dying  chil- 
dren to  the  sorrowing  parents.  Appeals  which  by 
Divine  grace  have  been  made  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.  Arvine  records  the  instance  of  an  infidel 
standing  by  the  bedside  of  his  dying  child.  Little 
James  looked  up  and  said  in  all  the  simplicity  of  his 
heart,  *' Father,  I  am  very  happy,  I  am  going  to 
Heaven  ;  will  you  meet  me  there,  father  T'  That  touch- 
ing appeal,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  was  instrumental 
in  his  subsequent  conversion ;  and  the  father  lived  to 


THE    5IISSI0N   OF   LITTLE    CHILDREN.         151 

clierisli  the  hope  of  meeting  his  child  in  Heaven.  The 
same  author  records  a  similar  instance  of  a  little  child, 
with  its  simple  and  childlike  conceptions  of  the  futurej 
saying  to  an  impenitent  father,  "  Father,  I  am  going  to 
see  Jesus ;  what  shall  I  tell  him  is  the  reason  you  won't 
love  him?"  and  then  expired.  It  proved  a  word  in 
season,  and  was  blessed  to  the  salvation  of  the  parent. 
But  we  need  not  multiply  instances.  These  little 
missionaries  have  not  preached  in  vain ;  they  have  not 
lived  in  vain.  Many  a  little  child  will  have  seals  in 
Heaven  of  its  angelic  mission  on  earth. 

Y.  Allow  me  to  speak  more  particularly  of  the  mis* 
sion  of  a  little  child  by  its  death  and  memory ;  and  this 
we  think  can  be  done  without  any  material  iteration  of 
what  has  already  been  said. 

"  Oar  God,  to  call  us  homeward, 
His  only  Son  sent  down, 
And  now,  still  more  to  tempt  our  hearts^ 
Has  taken  up  our  own." 

There  is  no  earthly  relation  so  tender,  so  aiFectionate, 
as  that  subsisting  between  the  parent  and  the  child.  It 
awakens  the  deepest  and  strongest  affections  of  our 
nature  ;  and  vdien  that  child  dies,  it  touches  the  deepest 
springs  of  sorrow  in  the  soul.     ''  What  then  ?     Do  our 


152  THE  MISSION   OP  LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

affections  sink  back  into  our  hearts — become  absorbed 
and  forgotten  ?  O  !  no  ;  they  reach  out  after  that  little 
one ;  they  follow  him  into  the  unseen  and  spiritual 
world." 

And  is  there  not  often  need  of  just  such  an  awaken- 
ino^  sorrow  ?  Some  minds  are  so  encased  with  worldli- 
ness,  that  nothing  but  this  concussion  of  the  heart  will 
break  the  earthly  mould  that  incrusts  the  soul;  so 
wrapped  in  spiritual  stupor,  that  nothing  but  this  rend- 
ing of  the  sensibilities  will  rouse  it  to  any  degree  of 
religious  consciousness ;  so  blinded  by  the  god  of  this 
world,  that  nothing  but  a  dying  infant's  hand  can  rend 
the  veil,  and  let  in  some  light  from  the  unseen  spiritual 
world.  It  is  when  the  treasure  which  lies  nearest  to 
the  heart  is  taken  away,  that  the  illusions  of  sense  are 
dissolved,  and  the  earth-spell  is  l3roken ;  and  there  is  a 
momentary  consciousness,  like  a  sudden  flash  from  the 
unseen  world,  revealing  at  once  the  vanity  of  this  world 
and  the  reality  of  the  luext ;  darkening  earth  and  open- 
ing heaven.  It  is  a  dark  but  blessed  sorrow.  "  Kight 
brings  out  stars  as  sorrow  shows  us  truths : 

-We  never  see  the  stars 

Till  we  can  see  nought  but  them.'^ 

And  so,  when  affliction  such  as  this  darkens  tho 


THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILBREN.  153 

earth,  it  brings  out  to  view  bright  things  above  ns. 
Heaven  becomes  a  vi\^d,  subjective  reaUty.  Our  hearts 
are  detached  from  the  seen  and  temporal,  and  aspire  to 
the  unseen  and  eternaL  And  if  that  httle  child  came 
but  to  smile  and  die,  to  win  our  hearts  "  with  that  in- 
fant look  and  angel  smile,"  and  then,  vanishing  from 
earth,  bearing  our  thoughts  and  our  hearts  with  it  to 
the  brighter  skies,  it  has  performed  a  mission  by  its 
early  death  worthy  of  its  coming. 

The  shepherd  gathering  his  flock  at  night,  takes  the 
little  lamb  in  his  arms,  and  bears  it  to  the  fold,  sure 
that  the  mother  will  follow.  So  Christ,  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, takes  the  little  child,  and  folds  it  to  his  bosom  in 
glory ;  and  thus,  by  the  bright  and  yearning  chain  of 
love,  draws  the  parent  to  the  child.  And  many  a  parent 
has  found  in  the  experience  of  this  sad  bereavement, 
"  that  the  tie  Vvdiich  seemed  to  be  dropped  and  broken, 
God  has  taken  up  to  draw  them  closer  to  him ;"  and 
conscious  of  the  gracious  designs  of  Providence,  has 
yielded  to  the  sweet  attraction,  exclaiming, 

"  draw  me  to  my  child  ! 


And  link  us  close,  0  God  !  when  near  to  Heaven." 

But  the  mission  of  a  little  child,  fading  like  a  tender 
plant,  ceases  not  at  death.     It  has  left  an  influence 


154  THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

more  abiding  than  the  shadow  of  its  evanescent  life. 
The  sorrow  felt  at  its  departure  was  not  as  a  flitting 
cloud  or  falling  shower,  here,  and  then  gone  and  for- 
gotten. It  is  rather  as  the  smiting  of  the  rock,  whose 
streams  follow  us  through  the  wilderness.  "  ISTow  no 
chastening,"  says  the  Apostle,  ''  for  the  present  seemeth 
to  be  joyous,  but  grievous ;  nevertheless,  afterward  it 
yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  unto  them 
which  are  exercised  thereby."     Heb.  xii.  11. 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  bereavement  was  salu- 
tary, but  afterwards  there  is  a  silent  mellowing  influ- 
ence upon  our  character  through  life.  It  is  the  remem- 
brance of  that  child  —  its  innocent  life  —  its  numberless 
endearments — its  last  look — its  smile,  beautiful  in  death, 
as  "the  signet-ring  of  heaven;"  these  remembrances 
"surround  us  with  a  softening  atmosphere,  and  the 
light  they  shed  down  on  us  is  the  light  of  sunset, 
mellowed  and  shaded  in  its  passage  through  the  clouds 
of  evening."  And  from  the  heart,  softened  and  chas- 
tened by  these  sacred  and  undying  memories,  there 
grow  ever  afterwards  the  graces  of  the  spirit;  and 
"holy  aspirations,  like  mosses  and  flowers  amid  the 
crumbling  of  ancient  structures,  grow  greenly  through 
and  over  the  rents  of  life's  ruins." 


THE    MISSION    OF    LITTLE    CHILDEEN.  155 

It  is  thus  the  child  being  dead  yet  speaketh.  The 
image  of  its  beautiful  and  innocent  life  becomes  a 
sacred  and  sanctifj'iug  memoiy.  So  it  was  with  Luther, 
after  the  death  of  little  Maro-aret.  Writino^  to  his  friend 
Justus  Jonas,  he  says,  "  On  my  very  soul  are  engraved 
the  looks  —  the  words  —  the  gestures  during  her  life 
and  on  the  bed  of  death  of  my  obedient,  my  lovino- 
child!"  And  it  was  to  him  a  benedictive  and  sancti- 
fying memory ;  and  it  is  so  to  every  Christian  parent. 
And  is  it  not  well  for  us  to  have  our  homes  sanctified 
by  the  memory  of  the  departed,  and  the  glare  of  the 
world  around  us  softly  veiled  over  by  the  shadow  of 
death ;  a  shadow  which  has  healing  in  it  for  the  soul, 
as  that  of  Peter  for  the  body  ?  It  gives  a  tinge  of  sad- 
ness to  life  —  beautiful,  but  passing  away,  and  a  chas- 
tened hue  to  our  own  life,  hopeful  and  happy,  but 
thouo-htful  of  death. 

The  memory  of  a  little  child,  once  as  a  gleam  of 
sunshine  in  our  home,  and  now  ensphered  in  heaven, 
as  a  star  to  shine  onward  and  onward  through  the 
depths  of  the  everlasting  ages,  is  to  the  parents  a  foun- 
tain of  blessed  and  saving  thoughts. 

Its  beauteous  image  is  enshrined  in  the  heart  forever; 
its  memorv  is  still  around  us  —  its  sweet  voice  is  still 


156         THE   MISSION   OF   LITTLE   CHILDREN. 

echoing  in  our  ears  like  distant  music,  and  it  still 
speaks  to  us  in  moments  of  quiet  thought  —  in  the  cold 
shadow  of  memory  —  in  the  bright  light  of  hope. 

And  if  "a  thing  of  beaut}^  is  a  joy  forever,"  then 
that  little  one  will  be  to  us  a  joy  forevermore,  for  it 
will  always  live  in  our  memory  as  a  child.  The  chil- 
dren left  to  us  here,  grow  old  and  lose  that  indefinable 
beauty  and  charm  of  childhood ;  but  the  one  in  heaven 
is  a  perennial  child.  Years  may  pass  away,  and  all 
around  us  may  change,  but  that  one  is  still  to  us  as  at 
first,  a  bright  and  happy  child. 

"  We  fold  it  in  our  arms  again,  we  see  it  "by  our  side 
In  the  helplessness  of  innocence,  which  sin  has  never  tried." 

And  is  not  such  a  memory  as  an  angel-presence  ?  is 
there  not  something  soothing,  spiritualizing,  sanctifying 
in  such  a  memory  ?  is  it  not  around  us  as  a  guardian 
angel,  or  as  a  glorified  spirit  ?  does  it  not  speak  to  us 
from  its  bright  and  happy  home,  saying.  Weep  not  over 
the  faded  and  fading  hopes  of  earth — bear  meekly  the 
allotted  cares  and  sorrows  of  life  !  Look  up  and  come  — 
come  to  this  bright  and  heavenly  home ! 

And  shall  we  not  go  ?  Do  not  our  hearts  catch  a 
heavenward  aspiration,  sweetly  urging  us  upward  and 
homeward  ? 


LITTLE   CHILDREN   IN   HEAVEN.  157 

"Thou  —  thou  in  heaven,  and  I  on  earth  — 
May  this  one  hope  delight  us, 
That  thou  wilt  hail  my  second  birth 
When  death  shall  re-unite  us." 

Blessed !  living  or  dying,  is  the  mission  of  a  little 
child! 


III. 

Little  Gkildren  in  Heaven. 

"  They  are  all  there  in  heaven, 
Safe,  safe,  and  sweetly  blessed, 
No  cloud  of  sin  can  shadow 
Their  bright  and  holy  rest." 

This  subject,  we  conceive,  is  of  sufficient  novelty  and 
interest  to  occupy  a  distinct  place,  and  is  deserving  of 
something  more  than  the  cursory  view  in  the  close  of 
the  preceding  section. 

Assuming  here  the  doctrine  of  infant  salvation,  what 
a  bright  and  lovely  phase  does  it  give  to  the  triumphs 
of  redeeming  grace  in  our  world  of  sin  !  What  vast 
and  beautiful  trophies  of  the  cross  are  gathered  from 
all  climes  and  generations !  What  glimpses,  what 
transporting  visions  of  the  heavenly  home  ! 

According  to  the  usual  and  accredited  estimate,  one- 
half  of  our  race  die  in  childhood,  and  of  this  half,  the 
14 


158  LITTLE    CHILDREN    IN    HEAVEN. 

greater  proportion  in  early  infancy.  This  fact,  though 
sad  and  tearful  in  the  individual  experience  of  the  be- 
reaved, is,  when  viewed  objectively,  a  grand  fact,  all- 
lustrous  with  the  grace  and  glory  of  the  Kedemption. 

Of  that  vast  multitude  whom  John  saw  before  the 
Lam.b  from  all  nations  and  tongues,  waving  their  palms 
and  shouting  "  Salvation  to  our  God,"  the  great  pro- 
portion were  children.  A  proportion,  says  John  ^NTew- 
ton,  so  greatly  exceeding  the  aggregate  of  adult  be- 
lievers, that,  comparatively  speaking,  his  kingdom  may 
be  said  to  consist  of  little  children. 

And,  since  that  vision  of  John,  we  have  reason  to 
believe  there  has  been  the  same  ratio  of  accession  to 
the  redeemed  host  of  heaven,  from  our  sinful  race  on 
earth.  During  the  eighteen  intervening  centuries  since, 
the  vast  majority  of  those  that  have  gone  up  to  the  gate 
of  heaven  have  been  infant  members.  Indeed  there 
has  been  almost  from  the  gate  of  Eden,  a  long  conti- 
nuous line  of  procession  of  infant  souls  from  among 
all  nations  going  up  to  Mount  Zion.  And  that  ladder 
of  the  patriarch,  with  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and 
descending,  is  a  perpetual  fact,  though  there  be  no 
dreaming  Jacob  to  see  it;  angels  descending  unceas- 
ingly to  minister  to  the  infant  heirs  of  salvation,  and 


LITTLE    CHILDREN    IN    HEAVEN.  159 

then  ascending,  bearing  in  tlieir  homeward  flight  the 
innocent  babes  to  Abraham's  bosom. 

There  is  something  in  this  fact  both  illustrative  of 
the  riches  of  divine  grace  and  inspiriting  to  the  Chris- 
tian mind,  contemplating  the  achievements  of  redemp- 
tion in  our  world.  There  is  much  in  the  spiritual  aspect 
of  our  world  that  to  the  eye  of  sense  is  sad  and  depress- 
ing. Over  millions  of  our  race  there  yet  hangs  the 
starless  night  of  paganism ;  there  are  millions  who 
liave  never  heard  the  name  of  Jesus ;  thousands  in 
Christian  lands,  who  seem  w^holly  indifierent  to  the 
claims  of  the  Gospel ;  so  that  the  faithful  minister  is 
often  led  to  exclaim,  with  a  feeling  of  despondency, 
"  Who  hath  believed  our  report,  and  to  whom  is  the 
arm  of  the  Lord  revealed?" 

But  the  feelings  of  depression  occasioned  by  this 
aspect  of  the  moral  world  are  relieved  by  the  exhilarat- 
ing fact  that  millions  of  infant  souls  are  gathered  as 
the  trophies  of  redeeming  love  from  among  all  people. 
And  the  Saviour's  cross,  like  Aaron's  rod,  has  budded 
and  blossomed  with  these  infant  souls,  saved  by  grace. 
Even  in  lands  shrouded  in  moral  gloom,  and  in  Chris- 
tian lands  where  iniquity  still  abounds,  and  compara- 
tively few  seem  to  heed  the  Gospel;   even  in  these 


160  LITTLE    CHILDREN    IN    HEAVEN. 

lands,  and  among  all  kindreds  and  people,  "  Christ  sees 
the  travail  of  his  soul  and  is  satisfied." 

In  the  dark  picture  of  this  world  of  sin,  that  lovely 
posture  of  the  Saviour  in  the  Gospel  welcoming  the 
little  ones  to  his  arms,  still  stands  out  to  my  view,  all 
the  more  hright  and  beautiful  from  the  dark  background 
of  the  picture.  And  it  is  a  soul-cheering  fact,  that  from 
every  age  and  clime  the  Great  Shepherd  has  been  ga- 
therino:  these  lambs  of  the  flock  to  the  Paradise  re- 
gained — 

"  In  the  immortal  bowers, 
Dwelling  by  life's  clear  rivers, 
Amid  undjing  flowers.'^ 

And  we  may  presume  that  the  Saviour,  as  a  man  of 
sorrows,  was  cheered  by  this  interesting  feature  of 
success  in  his  redemptive  work;  and  this  was  undoubt- 
edly an  important  constituent  of  that  joy  in  view  of 
which  he  "endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame" — 
the  joy  of  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory.  He  must 
have  been  conscious,  that  of  all  the  souls  that  would 
be  redeemed  by  his  blood,  the  vast  majority  would  be 
children ;  and  hence  the  very  sight  of  these  little  ones 
would  affectingly  remind  him  of  his  home  in  heaven, 
where 

"  Millions  of  infant  souls  compose 
The  family  above." 


LITTLE   CHILDREN   IN   HEAVEN.  161 

It  is  to  that  family  of  infant  souls  we  now  turn  our 
thoughts,  as  directed  by  our  theme  of 

LITTLE    CHILDREN    IN    HEAVEN. 

It  is  a  theme,  it  is  true,  that  is  dim  with  mystery ; 
and  yet  one  upon  which  our  thoughts  love  to  linger ; 
for  many  of  us  have  children  in  that  family,  whom  it 
is  a  joy  as  well  as  a  sorrow  to  remember,  and  with  whom 
our  hearts  still  love  to  commune,  in  the  sad  reverie  of 
contemplation,  the  sweet  visions  of  faith,  or  the  bright 
light  of  hope. 

If  it  were  revealed  that  in  some  particular  star  in 
the  sky  was  the  home  of  the  blessed,  how  would  we 
love  to  watch  its  gentle  radiance  in  the  grey  twilight 
of  evening,  and  sometimes  to  lift  the  telescope  to 
brighten  to  our  vision  that  beaming  star,  to  our  affec- 
tions the  fairest  of  all  the  heavenly  train.  But,  though 
the  world  in  which  some  of  our  loved  ones  dwell  is  not 
visible  to  the  naked  eye,  even  in  the  dim  and  distant 
Heavens,  it  is  no  less  real  to  the  inward  perceptions 
and  intuitions  of  the  soul,  and  to  that  religious  faith 
which  Paul  tells  us  is  ''  the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  Just  as  we 
believe  in  the  material  world  around  us,  because  we 
14* 


162  LITTLE    CHILDREN   IN    UEAVEK* 

have  senses  and  not  because  some  one  attempts  logically 
to  prove  it,  so  we  believe  in  the  world  above  by  the 
spiritual  intuitions  of  the  soul,  and  the  inner  percep- 
tions of  faith.  Its  proof  is  not  the  reasoning  of  Butler 
or  any  other  man.  IsTot  even  *'the  letter"  of  any 
Scriptural  text.  Its  faith,  its  Christian  faith,  is  all 
the  argument  it  needs.  ''Faith  itself,"  as  declared  by 
the  Apostle,  "  is  the  basis  of  things  hoped  for,  the'evi* 
dence  of  things  not  seen."  And  hence  that  heavenly 
world  is  as  real  to  my  spiritual  intuitions,  to  my  Chris- 
tian faith,  as  the  world  around  me  is  to  my  senses. 

It  is  to  that  beautiful  phase  of  Heaven  as  the 
home  of  little  children^  that.w^e  now  direct  our  medita* 
tions. 

I.  Our  first  thought  is  of  their  arrival  there.  And 
what  a  glow  of  pleasure  spreads  over  the  face  of 
Heaven,  the  joyous  welcome  of  the  infant  pilgrim  ! 
"What  ecstatic  greetings  from  the  angels  of  the  infant 
spirit  saved  by  grace,  coming  as  it  does  from  a  world 
of  sin,  coming,  as  in  some  instances,  from  an  irreligious 
home,  a  wicked  father,  and  a  prayerless  mother! 
Conscious  as  the  angels  may  be  of  the  perils  that 
encompassed  that  budding  spirit  here,  surrounded  by 
an  atmosphere  of  sin,  embosomed  in  a  family  infectious 


LITTLE   caiLDKEN   IN   HEAVEN.  163 

of  evil,  where  its  unfolding  mind  would  contract  defile- 
ment, audits  final  salvation  be  imperiled  —  Zio^;  must 
such  a  child  be  received,  rescued  from  such  a  world  — • 
from  such  a  prayerless  home  —  where  its  spiritual 
destiny  hung  in  such  perilous  suspense  —  "  plucked  as 
a  brand  out  of  the  fire,"-— with  what  gratulations  will 
all  the  angels  welcome  its  arrival  at  the  gate  of  Heaven ! 
and  gathering  around  the  early-saved,  gaze  with 
admiring  wonder  and  fresh  ecstacy  of  joy  upon  this  new 
apocal}T3se  of  redeeming  grace,  and  this  new  disclosure 
of  the  Saviour's  glory.  If  there  is  joy  in  the  presence 
of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  O 
what  a  sweet  wonder  and  joy  must  fill  all  Heavenly 
minds  over  every  babe  received  into  glory ! 

H.  And  then  what  a  pleasing  object  of  thought  is 
the  child  in  Heaven  !  If  we  strive  in  vain  to  fancy  the 
glory  which  surrounds  a  saint  when  first  greeted  with 
the  visions  of  the  celestial  world,  how  impossible  to 
conceive  the  beauty  and  felicity  of  a  babe  in  glory  I 
Its  first  lisp  of  language  is  the  name  of  Jesus ;  its  first 
conscious  exercise  of  belief,  faith  in  his  atoning  blood, 
and  the  first  and  simplest  feelings  and  emotions 
which  its  heart  beats,  intelligent  and  self-conscious,  are 
of  gratitude  and  love  to  him.     And  the  first  song  in 


164  LITTLE   CHILDUEN   IN   HEAVEN* 

which  their  joy  finds  utterance  must  be  the  anthem, 
*' "Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain." 

What  an  object  of  interest  is  that  child  to  the  angels 
of  God !  and  with  what  a  halo  of  spiritual  beauty  and 
glory  does  it  rise  in  the  sweet  visions  of  faith  in  the 
serene  imaginings  of  the  parent's  heart — My  little  child 
in  Heaven  !  one  of  the  youngest  and  sweetest  choristers 
in  the  heavenly  choir ;  or  perhaps  sitting  among  the 
angels,  cherubim  and  seraphim,  as  the  youthful  Saviour 
once  sat  among  the  doctors  in  the  temple,  hearing  and 
asking  questions.  It  is  a  vision  that  must  charm  away 
all  tears  from  sorrowing  eyes,  and  hush  all  notes  of 
grief,  or  turn  them  into  gushing  strains  of  joy  and 
praise ! 

"  Thy  feeble  feet,  unsteady, 
That  tottered  as  they  trod, 
With  angels  walk  the  heavenly  streets, 
Or  stand  before  their  God. 

Thy  little  hand,  so  helpless, 

That  scarce  its  toys  could  hold, 
Now  clasps  its  mate  in  holy  prayer, 

Or  strikes  a  harp  of  gold. 

Thine  eyes,  so  curbed  in  vision, 

Now  range  the  realms  of  space, 
Look  down  upon  the  rolling  stars, 

Look  up  —  in  God*s  own  face." 


LITTLE    CHILDREN   IN   HEAVEN.  165 

3.  Apart  from  aii}^  personal  affinity,  tliere  is  some- 
thing attractive  in  this  feature  of  the  heavenly  world. 
The  admixture  of  those  innocent  nurslings  in  the  so- 
ciety of  heaven  gives  an  inexpressible  charm  to  our 
Father's  house.  There  is  something  homelike  in  their 
buoyant  steps  and  gladsome  voices,  ringing  through  the 
many  mansions.  Like  morning  and  springtime  with 
its  flowers  and  singing-birds  to  the  earth,  they  give 
freshness  and  beauty  and  a  sort  of  spring-charm  to  the 
heavenly  paradise. 

And  if  we  bear  with  us  our  sanctified  earthly  affec- 
tions and  sympathies  to  the  spiritual  world,  the  min- 
gling of  millions  of  redeemed  children,  with  the  scenes 
and  associations,  the  service  and  praises  of  that  world 
must  give  a  morning  freshness  and  a  summer  beauty 
an  indefinable  charm  to  the  heavenly  home. 

And  if  the  Saviour  loved  little  children  on  earth, 
will  he  regard  them  with  less  tenderness  in  heaven  ? 
Will  not  the  host  of  redeemed  children  be  inexpressibly 
dear  to  Him,  who  washed  them  in  his  blood,  and  made 
them  meet  for  heaven  ?  They  must  ever  be  to  Him,  as 
well  as  to  angels,  the  most  beautiful  monuments  of  his 
grace  in  heaven.  It  may  be  they  are  permitted  to 
occupy  the  inner  circle  of  the  redeemed  around  the 


166  LITTLE   CHILDREN   IN   HEAVEN. 

tlirone.  "  The  smallest  planet  is  nearest  the  sun.  Ye 
stand  nearest  to  God,  3^e  little  ones."  And  there, 
nearest  the  Lamb,  they  cast  their  little  crowns,  and 
warble  the  music  of  their  praise  in  strains  sweeter  than 
angels  use,  singing,  ''ITot  by  works  of  righteousness 
which  we  had  done,  but  of  his  mercy  he  saved  us  by 
the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour." 

That  chant  of  redeeming  love  by  children  may  be 
the  sweetest  of  all  the  music  of  heaven ;  those  infant 
strains  the  grandest  of  all  the  choral  symphonies  of  the 
skies.  ^'  Perhaps,  indeed,  it  is  this  very  thing  of  whicli 
the  Psalmist  caught  a  view,  by  inspiration,  when  be 
exclaimed,  '  0  Lord,  thou  hast  set  thy  glory  above  the 
heavens.  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings 
thou  hast  perfected  praise  ! '  'No  literal  interpretation 
can  be  given  to  that  passage  in  any  other  way.  But  if 
you  translate  it  of  the  infant  singers  in  heaven,  it  is  a 
very  natural  window  opened  into  the  glories  of  the 
celestial  world." 

IV.  And  finally ;  — What  an  interesting  subject  of 
study  and  observation  must  these  children  be  to  the  older 
inhabitants  of  lieaven !     To  see  the  unfolding  of  the 


LITTLE    CHILDREN    IN    HEAVEN.  167 

infant  mind,  and  the  evolution  of  the  affections  in 
heaven;  —  to  see  the  ecstatic  bewilderment  of  joj — and 
mysterious  sense  of  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  celes- 
tial world,  as  they  dawn  and  break  in  upon  their  opening 
senses.  Indeed  every  spirit,  upon  its  first  introduction 
into  heaven,  is,  in  some  sense,  like  a  child,  amid  those 
new  and  wondrous  scenes;  and  so  was  every  new- 
born angel ;  they  can  never  forget  their  first  impres- 
sions, as  the  glories  of  heaven  burst  upon  their  enrap- 
tured souls,  and  this  will  give  them  a  peculiar 
sj^mpathy  with  the  little  children  there. 

Dr.  Adams  mentions  the  statuary  of  "  the  chanting 
cherubs,"  with  some  anonymous  lines,  representing  the 
conversation  of  a  child  with  its  guardian  angel,  on  its 
way  from  earth  to  heaven ;  in  which  the  child  says,  as 
it  draws  near  the  light  which  no  man  can  see  and  live, 

"01  cannot  bear  this  glory  ; 
Sister  Spirit,  how  canst  thou  ?  " 

The  angel  answers, — 

"  I  will  tell  thee  all  my  story  ! 
I  was  once  as  thou  art  now."- 

This  idea  is  developed  and  expressed  so  beautifully 
by  Dr.  Cheever,  that  we  prefer  giving  it  to  you  in  his 
own  language,  to  any  further  remarks  of  our  own. 

He  says,  "  for  aught  we  know,  there  may  be  a  fgrm 


1G8  LITTLE   CHILDREN   IN   HEAVEN. 

of  glory,  or  degrees  and  qualities  of  glory,  resulting 

from  sucli  a  development  in  heaven,  transcending  all 

other  manifestations  of  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God 

through  the  church  to  all  ages. 

And   as  v^e  have  reason  to  believe    that  so  vast  a 

preponderating  multitude  of  those   transmitted   from 

our  world  to  heaven  die  in  infancy  and  childhood,  so 

the  greater  part  of  heaven  is  filled  with  just  such  scenes, 

and  heaven  might  be   conceived  as  one  vast  ecstatic 

holy  school  of  youthful  happy  spirits.     What  curious, 

wondrous,  blissful  forms  of  the  wisdom  and  love  of  the 

Creator,  combined  with  the  perfection  of  the  work  of 

our  Divine  Redeemer,  may  be  seen  in  the  evolution  of 

the  infant  immortal  spirit,  from  the  veiy  bud  of  being 

—  who  shall  tell  ?  ....  Oh  certainly  to  see  the  growth 

of  a  mind  in  heaven,  to  watch  its  developings  in  Christ, 

above   the  brightness   of  the   firmament,  must  be   a 

process  of  glory  so  exquisite,  that  nothing  which  we 

now  see  in  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  all  this  material 

universe  can  bear  any  proportion  to  its  loveliness." 

**  An  infant's  soul  —  the  sweetest  thing  of  earth, 
To  which  endowments  beautiful  are  given 

As  might  befit  a  more  than  mortal  birth, 

What  shall  it  be,  when  'midst  its  winning  mirth 

And  love,  and  truthfulness,  'tis  borne  to  heaven  ? 


RECOGNITION.  169 

Will  it  grow  into  might  above  the  skies  ?  — 
A  spirit  of  high  wisdom,  glory,  power, — 

A  cherub  guard  of  the  Eternal  Tower, 
With  knowledge  filled  of  its  vast  mysteries  ? 

Or  will  perpetual  childhood  be  its  dower? 
To  sport  forever,  a  bright,  joyous  thing, 

Amid  the  wonders  of  the  shining  thrones, 
Yielding  its  praise  in  glad  but  feeble  tones, 

A  tender  dove  beneath  the  Almighty's  wing." 


IV. 

Recognition, 

"  The  kindred  tie  that  bound  us  here, 
Though  rent  apart  with  many  a  tear. 
Shall  be  renewed  in  Heaven  ! "  —  Huie. 

The  hope  of  the  future  recognition  of  departed  friends 
is  one  of  the  most  cherished  of  the  human  heart.  It 
seems  to  be  the  universal  sentiment  of  mankind.  In 
every  age,  and  among  eveiy  people,  untutored  or 
refined,  it  exists,  though  in  some  instances  in  the  mystic 
forms  of  superstition,  as  one  of  the  primitive  and 
indestructible  instincts  of  our  moral  nature.  It  is 
whispered  in  the  farewell  of  the  dying,  "  meet  me  in 
Heaven;"  and  the  smile  that  is  sometimes  seen  to 
linger  so  sweetly  on  the  cold  brow  of  infancy  in  its  last 
15 


170  RECOGNITION. 

sleep,  seems  like  a  parting  hope  and  pledge  of  re- 
union. 

"  Vfhere  worlds  no  more  can  sever 
Parent  and  child  forever." 

This  sentiment,  breathed  in  our  devotions,  vocalized 
in  some  of  our  sweetest  music,  and  inscribed  upon  the 
tombs  of  the  departed,  cannot  be  a  mere  illusion  of 
the  fancy.  This  intuition  of  the  heart,  this  promise  of 
"the  elder  Scripture,"  cannot  be  the  ''herald  of  a  lie." 
No  ;  this  pleasing  hope  is  a  presentiment  of  the  recog- 
nition of  our  friends  in  that  nightless  land. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  difficulties  in  the  admission  of 
this  cherished  doctrine.  It  is  objected,  that  in  the  dis- 
embodied state  there  will  be  none  of  the  present  media 
of  recognition ;  but  this  objection  is  wholly  negative 
and  gratuitous.  No  one  will  presume  to  assert  that 
there  may  not  be  other  than  mere  physical  media  of 
recognition ;  for  no  one  is  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
the  mysterious  functions  of  mind  to  affirm  that  the 
soul  cannot  recognize  its  kindred  soul  by  intuition ;  or 
that  there  may  not  exist  a  purely  spiritual  recognition 
independently  of  all  material  agency.  There  must  be 
among  pure  spirits  some  mode  of  recognition  and  inter- 
communion, of  which  we  at  present  can  form  no  con- 


RECOGNITION.  171 

ception.  There  is,  at  least,  no  iiilierent  absurdity  in 
the  case  that  should  lead  any  one  to  pronounce  this 
pleasing  hope  of  the  heart  a  dream  or  delusion,  even 
prior  to  its  confirmation  by  the  inspired  "Word. 

After  the  resurrection,  the  assumed  difficulties,  to 
which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  cannot  exist.  Then 
the  spirit  will  be  reinvested  ^vith  a  body,  which,  how- 
ever refined  and  spiritualized,  will  still  be  a  body, 
according  to  Paul,  a  "  spiritual  body."  I^oav  we  know 
that  the  artist  can  transfer  to  the  canvass,  or  engrave 
on  steel,  a  likeness  so  accurately  and  distinctly  marked 
as  to  be  recognized  by  a  friend  anywhere,  and  after 
the  lapse  of  many  years.  And  the  daguerrean  process 
of  taking  sun-pictures  is  a  still  more  striking  illustra- 
tion of  the  rationale  of  this  recognition. 

The  image  traced  by  the  solar  beam  is  so  true  and 
striking,  that  a  casual  glance  is  sufficient  for  recogni- 
tion. And  yet  it  is  so  ethereal,  that  it  might  almost  be 
called  a  spiritual  image.  We  can  hardly  conceive  that 
the  difierence  between  our  present  gross  material 
bodies  and  our  future  spiritual  bodies  will  be  greater 
than  that  between  our  living  faces  and  the  shades  of 
light  upon  the  metallic  plate.  So  that  however 
changed,   refined,   and    celestialized    our    forms    and 


172  KECOGNITION. 

features  may  be  after  the  resurrection,  it  may  be  as 
easy  to  recognize  our  friends  in  heaven,  as  for  the 
parent  to  see  in  a  sun-picture  the  image  of  a  long-lost 
child.  And  just  as  readily  as  a  parent's  eye  would 
detect  at  a  glance  the  picture  of  a  child  among  a 
thousand  other  pictures,  may  the  intuitive  perceptions 
of  love  recognize  those  that  have  been  dear  on  earth, 

)Ugh   Heaven   be   full   of  spiritual   daguerreotypes. 

d  the  mother  by  a  feeling  may  know  her  child 

"  By  a  thrill  like  that,  which,  when  first  he  smiled. 
Came  o'er  her  soul." 

he  objection  that  the  absence  of  some  loved  one 
would  mar  the  felicity  of  heaven,  is  purely  speculative, 
and  unwortliy  of  seiious  consideration.  We  know, 
that  there  the  soul  will  be  brought  into  such  perfect 
sympathy  and  unison  with  the  will,  purposes,  and 
glory  of  God,  that  no  fact  can  disturb  the  perfect  peace, 
or  cast  a  momentary  shadow  over  the  bright  and  happy 
spirit.  And  we  dismiss  this  whole  difficulty,  which 
some  have  conceived  in  the  admission  of  this  doctrine, 
with  the  somewhat  fanciful  and  original  thoughts  of 
William  Anderson  of  Glasgow: —  "Many  a  mother 
will  not  find  her  son  in  heaven,  and  yet  the  Saviour 
will  make  her  perfectly  happy;  there  can  be  no  grief 


RECOGNITION.  173 

in  the  Paradise  of  God,  not  even  for  a  perished  son. 
Christ  will  bring  her  some  other  woman's  child,  who 
has  been  seeking  for  his  mother  in  vain,  and  he  will  say, 
'"Woman,  behold  thy  son,'  and  to  him,  ^Behold  thy 
mother,'  and  the  wounds  of  the  hearts  of  both  will  be 
healed." 

Whatever  speculative  difficulties  may  be  associated 
with  this  doctrine,  they  can  never  extinguish  this 
indigenous  hope  of  the  human  heart.  Can  we  suppose 
that  this  pleasing  anticipation,  which  sweetens  the  cup 
of  sorrow  — this  sweet  hope,  which  throws  over  the 
dark  hour  of  bereavement  the  beauteous  bow  of 
peace  and  promise,  are  mere  illusions  of  the  fancy? 
Never ;  it  is  no  mirage  of  the  desert,  to  cheat  the  eye 
and  mock  the  heart  of  the  weary  and  sorrowing  pilgrim. 
It  is  the  intuition  of  the  heart — the  pleasing  presenti- 
ment of  the  soul,  as  the  earnest  and  evidence  of  the 
anticipated  reunion ;  an  intimation  from  the  God  of 
nature,  that  it  is  no  delusive  fancy,  but  a  blessed  reality. 

And  we  find  these  pre-intimations  of  our  moral 
nature  sustained  by  the  suggestions  and  positive  teach- 
ings of  the  Divine  Word. 

The  frequent  allusions  of  the  Saviour  to  the  future, 
involve  the  pleasing  intimation,  that  the  affiliations 
15* 


174  RECOGNITION. 

and  home  affections  of  earth  will  he  renewed  in  the 
perfect,  social,  and  spiritual  affinities  of  heaven.  These 
alhisions  are  verified  hy  a  more  positive  affirmation  of 
the  doctrine,  in  other  portions  of  the  inspired  word. 
We  will  select  a  few  passages,  without  reference  to  the 
chronological  order  in  which  they  occur  in  the  Bible, 
together  with  our  practical  illustration  of  the  doctrine. 

I.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  his  first  epistle  to  the  Thes- 
salonians,  (1  Thes.  ii.  19,)  says,  ''For  what  is  our  hope, 
or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing?  Are  not  even  ye  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming?" 
This  animating  language  obviously  implies  the  mutual 
recognition  of  the  minister  and  his  people.  The 
judicious  Macknight  makes  the  following  comment 
on  this  verse.  "The  manner  in  which  the  Apostle 
speaks  of  the  Thessalonians  in  this  passage  shows  that 
he  expected  to  know  his  converts  at  the  day  of  judg. 
ment.  If  so,  we  may  hope  to  know  our  relations  and 
friends  there." 

II.  'We  have,  in  1  Thes.  iv.  13-18,  these  consolatory 
words:  "But  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye 
sorrow  not  even  as  others  which  have  no  hope ;  for  if 
we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 


RECOGNITION.  IT^'i 

them  also  wliicli  sleep  in  Jesus,  will  God  bring  with 
liim.  For  this  w^e  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  that  w^e  who  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not  prevent  them  which  are 
asleep  ;  for  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven 
with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  arch-angel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God ;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall 
rise  first ;  when  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall 
be  caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  even  be  with 
the  Lord.  Wherefore  comfort  one  another  with 
these  words." 

Dr.  Gumming  gives  the  fallowing  beautiful  and  com- 
forting view  of  this  passage : — 

"  The  subject  on  which  comfort  is  here  required  is 
the  death  or  removal  of  beloved  friends  and  relatives. 
The  consolation  specially  announced  is  not  the  resur- 
rection, but  the  reunion  of  departed  friends,  and  the 
restoration  of  suspended  or  interrupted  intercourse. 
The  Apostle  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
resurrection  is  an  admitted  fact,  and  shows  that  there 
will  be  superadded  to  that  resurrection  this  special  con- 
solation, viz.,  the  recognition  of  our  risen  relatives  and 
fnends.      Were   some  beloved  relative,   or  child,   or 


176  RECOGNITION. 

parent,  about  to  depart  to  a  distant  land,  would  it  be 
sufficient  comfort  to  tell  you,  that  you  also  would  be 
carried  there  in  due  time,  but  to  a  different  part  of  that 
beautiful  land ;  so  that  while  you  would  be  aware  that 
your  beloved  ones  were  on  its  face,  yet  you  could  nei- 
ther see  nor  hold  communion  with  them  ?  This  would 
be  dispersion,  not  gathering  together.  There  would  be 
no  comfort  in  this.  The  real  comfort  would  be  the 
prospect  of  reunion  ;  and  the  summons  not  to  sorrow, 
and  the  promise  that  you  would  be  taken  there,  would 
all  imply  the  restoration  of  the  fellowship  and  the  re- 
cognition of  the  persons  of  those  you  loved  below." 

III.  The  words  of  Jesus,  addressed  to  Martha  in  the 
hour  of  bereavement,  are  equally  explicit  upon  this 
subject.  "  Thy  brother  shall  live  again" — thy  brother ! 
If  this  was  intended  merely  to  assert  the  fact  of  a  re- 
surrection, it  did  not  meet  the  stricken  heart  of  Martha, 
for  of  this  she  was  already  conscious ;  and  even  if  she 
had  not  been,  there  was  nothing  in  the  mere  promise 
of  future  existence  to  impart  comfort  to  sorrowing 
friendship.  It  would  be  something  to  personal  expec- 
tation, but  nothing  to  bereaved  affection.  There  was 
something  more  than  the  assertion  of  a  future  resur- 
rection  and  a  future  life  —  ''Thy  brother  shall  rise 


RECOGNITION.  177 

again!"  —  Th}'  brother!  "Xot  some  iindeiiued  spiri- 
tuality, not  some  new  and  strange  being  shall  go  foiih 
beyond  the  mortal  bourne ;  but  life  —  life  in  its  charac- 
ter, its  affections,  its  spiritual  identity,  such  as  it  is 
here ;  thy  brother  shall  rise  again.  He  is  not  lost  to 
thee ;  he  shall  not  be  so  spiritually  changed  as  to  be 
forever  lost  to  thee ;  on  some  other  shore,  as  if  he  had 
only  gone  to  another  hemisphere,  instead  of  another 
world ;  on  some  other  shore  thou  shalt  find  him  again  — 
find  thy  brother.  Thus  much  must  have  been  taught, 
or  there  had  been  no  pertinency,  no  comfort  in  the 
teaching."  * 

This  strikes  us  as  the  true  and  natural  import  of 
those  words  of  Jesus,  to  a  sister's  wounded  affection. 
He  shall  live  again  to  you  —  a  brother  recognized  and 
known.  Weep  not  as  though  you  should  never  see  him 
again  ;  as  though  you  should  never  know  him  in  all  the 
endearment  of  his  brotherly  affection ;  for  he  shall  be 
to  you  again  in  all  the  fraternal  affinity  which,  in  its 
suspension  now,  makes  you  so  sad  and  tearful.  This 
assurance  would  soothe  the  heart  of  Martha ;  and  the 
same  consolatory  assurance  is  given  to  all  bereaved 
Christians  who  mourn  departed  kindred  and  friends 
*  Dewey,  Discourses  on  Human  Life. 


178  RECOGNITION. 

in  Jesus — they  are  not  dead — they  yet  Hve  in  a  better 
world — 

"  hid  from  our  mortal  eyes 


By  that  bright  day,  which  ends  not ;  as  the  sun 
His  robe  of  light  flings  round  the  glittering  stars." 

And  there  you  shall  see  them  and  know  them  again, 
in  the  sweet  and  unending  affiliations  of  heaven. 

IV.  We  have  in  David's  bereavement,  recorded  in 
2  Sam.  xii.  22-23,  a  positive  recognition  of  this  doc- 
trine. "  And  he  said,  "While  the  child  was  yet  alive,  I 
fasted  and  wept ;  for  I  said.  Who  can  tell  whether  God 
will  be  gracious  to  me,  that  the  child  may  live  ?  But 
now  he  is  dead,  wherefore  should  I  fast  ?  Can  I  bring 
him  back  again  ?  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not 
return  to  me." 

The  removal  of  that  child  was  to  David  a  bitter 
sorrow,  a  painful  bereavement,  and  yet  he  is  calm  and 
peaceful ;  and  he  lets  us  know  the  source  of  his  com- 
fort, and  the  hope  which,  like  an  inspiration,  flashed 
from  earth  to  heaven,  illumining  his  midnight  sorrow. 
It  was  the  conviction  that  his  babe  was  in  heaven,  and 
the  thought  of  meeting  it  there.  IlTor  was  it  a  mere 
fancy,  the  fond  anticipation  that  spontaneously  rises  in 
the  sorrowing  heart,  vague  and  undefined.     There  was 


RE OOGNITIOX.  179 

sometliing  clear,  defined,  and  personal,  in  the  hope 
expressed,  "I  shall^go  to  him!"  not  merely  to  hea- 
ven, but  to  Mm;  I  shall  recognize  that  loved  one  in 
glory. 

^or  does  his  confidence  fiilter  in  view  of  the  time 
that  might  elapse  befi^re  he  should  be  called  to  realize 
the  anticipated  reunion.  It  was  nearly  twenty  years 
from  the  time  this  little  child  was  borne  from  its  infant 
cradle  to  Abraham's  bosom,  to  the  period  of  David's 
appearance  in  the  celestial  world.  Twenty  years  the 
child  would  have  been  in  heaven  with  Moses  and  Elias 
in  glory,  a  lamb  in  the  fold  of  Christ  there,  before  his 
earthly  parent  would  again  see  him ;  and  could  he  be 
expected  to  know,  in  the  bright  form  of  a  seraph,  edu- 
cated for  twenty  years  in  the  presence  and  likeness  of 
Jesus,  his  own  departed  babe  ?  Why  not,  as  well  as 
Elijah,  when  translated  to  heaven,  could  be  expected 
to  know  Moses,  who  had  been  dwelling  in  heaven  five 
hundred  years  before  Elijah  went  hither  ?  There  would 
be  no  more  of  mystery  in  the  one  recognition  than  in 
the  other,  but  an  equal  delight  and  glory.  That  a 
Christian  parent  should  recognize  a  child  passed  into 
the  skies,  and  educated  there,  is  no  more  mysterious 
than  that  Moses  and  Elijah  should  recognize  each  other, 


180  RECOGNITION. 

or  rather  know  each  other,  though  they  never  met  on 
earth,  but  only  in  heaven."  "^^ 

From  those  references,  it  is  evident  that  the  hope  of 
the  future  recognition  of  our  friends  in  heaven  is  con- 
firmed by  the  frequent  alkisions,  as  well  as  positive 
affirmations  of  the  Divine  "Word. 

And  we  may  add,  that  the  most  devout  and  eminent 
students  of  the  Bible  have  so  interpreted  the  instincts 
and  presentiments  of  our  moral  nature  and  the  teach- 
ings of  Scripture,  as  to  receive  this  cherished  doctrine 
among  their  fondest  hopes  of  the  future. 

Baxter^  speaking  of  his  pious  friends  that  had  died 
in  the  Lord,  expresses  the  firm  persuasion  of  meeting 
them  in  heaven,  and  realizing  there  the  perfection  of 
that  kindred  aflfection  that  was  begun  on  earth,  but  in- 
terrupted  by  death. 

Dr.  Chalmers,  speaking  of  the  death  of  a  little  child, 
says :  "  The  blossom  which  withered  here  upon  its 
stalk  has  been  transplanted  there  to  a  place  of  endu- 
rance ;  and  it  will  then  gladden  that  eye  which  now 
weeps  out  the  agony  of  an  affection  that  has  been 
sorely  wounded." 


*  Dr.  Cheever  —  Powers  of  the  World  to  Come. 


RECOGNITION.  181 

Edwards  said :  ''  The  lather  shall  know  that  such  a 
one  was  his  child;  and  so  all  other  relations  of  persons 
shall  be  renewed  and  known  in  heaven." 

And  Dr.  Gumming,  speaking  upon  this  subject,  ex- 
presses his  conviction  of  this  precious  hope  in  his  own 
peculiar  and  beautiful  language:  "Are  we  not  told 
that  death  shall  be  destroyed  ?  But  if  those  bonds 
which  were  broken  at  death  are  not  restored  asrain  in 
the  realms  of  life,  death  is  not  annihilated ;  one  of  its 
deepest  wounds  survives ;  its  heaviest  blow  is  felt 
throughout  the  successive  cycles  of  a  futurity  to  come. 
But  this  cannot  be.  I  look  on  the  future  as  the  resto- 
ration of  scattered  families,  of  suspended  friendships, 
of  broken  circles  ;  the  rcanimatiou  of  departed  images ; 
the  apocalypse  of  faces  we  gazed  upon  below." 

This  sentiment  is,  therefore,  no  illusive  hope  of  the 
sorrowing,  but  a  blessed  truth,  inscribed  by  the  finger 
of  God  upon  the  human  heart — the  "  elder  Scriptures" 
reaffirmed  in  the  inspired  Word,  and  echoed  in  the 
convictions  of  the  wise  and  good  in  all  ages.  And 
what  a  hope  is  this  of  reunion  and  recognition  of  the 
loved  and  lost  in  the  heavenly  world,  to  cheer  and  sus- 
tain the  bereaved  and  sorrowing ! 

From   the  gate  of  Eden  —  from  that  first  gush  of 
16 


182  RECOGNITION. 

parental  sorrow  over  the  murdered  form  of  Abel,  the 
first  victim  of  death — what  a  continuous  procession  of 
mourners,  headed  by  the  first  human  parents  —  one 
long  uninterrupted  funeral  procession,  reaching  down 
through  all  generations !  Wliat  Rachels,  weeping  for 
their  children  because  they  are  not !  What  rending  of 
domestic  ties  and  social  afiinities  !  What  dispersion  of 
family  groups!  Bitter,  indeed,  have  been  the  farewells 
spoken  in  this  world  of  the  dying  and  the  dead !  But, 
blessed  be  God,  the  friends  of  Jesus,  parted  by  death, 
shall  meet  again. 

**  A  few  short  years  of  evil  past, 
We  reach  the  happy  shore, 
AVhere  death-divided  friends  at  last 
Shall  meet  to  part  no  more  V 

This  should  more  than  reconcile  Christian  parents  to 
the  death  of  their  children.  It  should  infuse  the  ele- 
ment of  joy  into  their  cup  of  sorrow.  The  separation 
will  be  brief;  and  happy  will  be  the  home-greetings  at 
the  threshold  of  their  Father's  house. 

The  hope  of  such  a  recognition  of  your  little  ones  in 
the  many  mansions,  should  make  you  feel  as  old  Jacob 
did  when  they  told  him  "  Joseph  is  yet  alive,  and  is 
governor  over  all  Egypt."     Your  Joseph,  whom  they 


RECOGNITION.  183 

hurried  out  of  jour  siglit,  is  yet  alive,  and  sees  the 
King  in  his  heautj ;  "he  thinks  of  you ;  and  perhaps 
inquires  for  you  of  those  who  come  to  Heaven,  as 
Joseph  did  concerning  his  father."  This  thought 
should  lead  you,  like  the  patriarch,  to  exclaim,  "'  It  is 
enough.  Joseph,  my  son,  is  yet  alive ;  I  will  go  and 
see  him,  not  before,  but  when  I  die."  And  that  touch- 
ing scene  where  Jacob  met  his  long-lost  son,  who  "  fell 
on  his  neck  and  wept,"  and  the  ecstatic  flither  ex- 
claimed, "ITow  let  me  die,  since  I  have  seen  thy  face," 
that  affecting  scene  is  but  a  faint  prefiguration  of  the 
meeting  above,  where  parents  shall  fold  their  long-lost 
children,  then  youthful  seraphs,  to  their  throbbing 
hearts,  with  the  ecstatic  consciousness  that  they  shall 
never  part  again. 

0,  the  joy  of  this  reunion  of  the  loved  and  lost  — 
the  sweet  rapture  of  meeting  in  the  home-gatherings 
of  our  Father's  house !  It  was  blessed  to  meet  in  the 
night,  though  chill  and  dark ;  it  was  happy  to  meet  on 
earth,  and  in  homes  shaded  with  sin  and  sorrow. 
"What  must  it  be  to  meet  in  the  presence  of  God,  the 
heavenly  home  where  sin  can  never  disturb  our  peace, 
or  sorrow  mingle  with  our  joys! 

"And  fears  of  parting  chill  — 
Never,  no,  never!" 


184  RECOGNITION. 

Let  lis  catch  the  inspiration  of  this  hope,  and  lift  our 
hearts  to  that  bhssful  home,  and  forget  the  parting 
sorrow  in  the  animating  prospect  of  reunion  with  our 
loved  ones  in  our  Father's  house,  the  old  Homestead  of 
eternity,  "  where  there  is  fullness  of  joy  and  pleasures 
forever  more." 

'*  0  happy  -world  !     0  glorious  place  ! 

Where  all  who  are  forgiven 
Shall  find  their  loved  and  lost  below, 
And  hearts  like  meeting  streams  shall  flow 

Forever  one  in  Heaven." 


We  close  with  this  sweet  vision  of  Heaven  :  —  The 
^'Holy  Child  Jesus"  enthroned  in  glory,  environed 
with  myriads  of  redeemed  and  glorified  children, 
chanting  their  hallelujahs  to  the  Lamb  that  Avas  slain. 
Some  of  us  have  little  ones  among  those  "  white-robed 
choristers  "  that  encircle  the  throne,  and  unceasingly 
warble  the  music  of  their  praise.  And  from  their 
bright  homes  they  speak  to  us ;  softly  steals  upon  our 
hearts  their  call :  "  Come  up  hither !  come  to  this 
bright  and  happy  land  !  Come,  and  bring  the  children 
home  with  you  when  you  come!" 


RECOGNITION.  185 

And  shall  we  not  go  ?  God  granting  us  grace,  we 
will.  And  bearing  with,  us,  in  Christian  nurture,  and 
faith,  and  prayer,  the  children  still  confided  to  our  care, 
hope  to  appear  before  Christ  with  the  joyous  exclama- 
tion,  "Behold  I  and  the   children  which  God  hath 

given  me"  — 

"No  wanderer  lost  — 
A  family  in  Heaven." 

"  Up  to  that  .world  of  light, 
Take  us,  dear  Saviour ; 
May  we  all  there  unite 
Happy  forever. 
Where  kindred  spirits  dwell, 
There  may  our  music  swell, 
And  time  our  joys  dispel  — 
Never —  no,  never  I " 


THE    END. 


16* 


# 


LINDSAY   &.   BLAKISTON'S   PUBLICATIONS, 

Urn  Mr.  3Barhaug[i^s  l^npular  Wmh. 

LINDSAY   &  BLAKISTON,  PHILADELPHIA, 

Publish  the  following  Series  of  Books,  which  have  received  the  approbation  of  all 
Religious  Denominations : 


HEAVEN,  I 

OR,  AN  EARNEST  AND  SCRIPTURAL  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ABODE  OF  THE  SAINTED  DEAD.  | 

BY  THE  REV.  II.  HARBAUGII.  f 

PASTOR  OF   THE  FIRST  GERMAN  REFORMED  CHURCH,  LANCASTER,  PA.  | 

In  One  Volume,  12mo.     Price  75  Cents.  \ 

THE  HEAVENLY  RECOGNITION,  | 

OR   AN  EARNEST   AND   SCRIPTURAL   DISCUSSION   OP    THE    QUESTION, 

Win  mt  lum  nt  jhinh  ie  Hunml 

BY  REV.  H.  HARBAUGH. 

In  One  Volume,  12mo.     Price  75  Cents. 

THE  HEAVENLY  HOME; 

OR, 
THE  EMPLOYMENT  AND  ENJOYMENTS  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  HEAVEN, 

;;                                BY  THE  REV.  H.  HARBAUGH,  I 

AUTHOR    OF    '^THE    HEAVENLY   RECOGNITION    OF   FRIENDS,"   AND    *' flEATEN ;  i 

OR,    THE    SAINTED   DEAD."  | 

In  One  Volume,  12mo.    Price  $1  00.  4 

i|     HARBAUGH'S     FUTURE     LIFE;  j 

CONTAINING  J 

HEAVEN,    OR,    THE    SAJiMTED    DEAD,  I 

i;               THE   HEAVENLY   RECOGNITION,  I 

'   THE    HEAVENLY    HOME.  | 

;;    THREE   VOLUMES,   NEATLY  BOUND   IN   CLOTB.   TVITH    GILT    BACKS,    AND   A   PORTRAIT  | 

OF    THE    AUTHOR.      PRICE   $2  60.  \ 


Copies  of  the  above  Books,  har  dsomely  bound  for  presentation,  in  cloth, 
full  gilt.    Price  of  the  first  and  second  volumes,  $1  25  each ;  of  the  third  $1  50. 


l»^^f»\\%»»»»»\^S^  »^%»v»%%%\%^v»v%%%v^^^^v%^\s»^^»»^^»»»^ 


A  Genial,  Healthy  Book,  that  cannot  be  read  without  both  Pleasure  and  Profit. 


JUST  READY,  THE  SECOND  THOUSAND  OF 

STRUGGLES    FOR    LIFE, 

AN 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

IN    ONE   VOLUME,    12m o.     PRICE   $100. 


Read  what  the  Press  says  of  it : 

It  is  simple  and  earnest,  full  of  incidents,  gracefully  narrated,  and  always  revealing  the  inner  life  of 
the  man.    Its  realities  are  invested  with  more  than  romantic  interest. — National  Era. 

This  record  of  actual  life,  of  the  struggles  of  a  young  man  through  poverty  and  affliction,  and  all 
depressing  circumstances,  to  an  honourable  position  in  life,  possesses  the  interest  of  a  romance,  and  is 
stranger,  in  many  of  its  details,  than  the  pages  of  &ciion.— Providence  Journal. 

What  sunny  and  shady  side  are,  as  descriptive  of  American  Pastoral  Life,  this  delightful  volume  is 
as  descriptioe  of  the  Life  of  an  English  pastor.  It  describes,  in  a  most  felicitous  style,  his  labours, 
trials,  sorrows,  pleasures,  and  joys.  But,  perhaps,  its  chief  value  consists  in  the  vivid  views  it  gives 
of  human  nature  as  illustrated  in  the  leading  characteristics  of  English  society,  manners,  and  customs. 
— Spectator. 

No  man,  who  is  not  a  Christian  in  the  gospel  acceptation  of  the  term ;  who  has  not  been  changed 
from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  could  have  written  such  a  book.— Chris- 
tian Secretary. 

A  genuine  book  from  an  able  pen,  and  genial  heart ;  destined  to  rival  "  Shady  Side,"  m  its  great 
popularity,  as  it  does  in  the  truthfulness  of  its  narrative  of  individual  experience  and  the  impressive 
lessons  it  teaches.  The  book  is  written  with  much  ability,  and  the  narrative  is  intensely  interesting 
and  full  of  instruction.  We  pronounce  it  a  work  of  unusual  interest  and  power.  —  Daily  Evening 
Traveller. 

It  abounds  with  impressive  lessons.— Evening  Bulletin. 

This  is  a  real  book— a  work  of  great  interest.— CAris/ian  Observer. 

A  very  charming  book.  The  author  is  evidently  a  person  of  cultivated,  thoughtful  mind.— Zfon'i 
Advocate. 

We  found  a  serious  difficulty  in  this  book,  and  this  was  the  difficulty— when  we  had  once  taken  it 
up,  of  laying  it  down  again  before  we  had  finished  the  contents.— CAm/ian  Secretary. 

Ministers  will  be  benefited  by  its  peru.sal,  and  Christians  in  private  life  will  find  in  it  many  sugges- 
tions which  it  may  be  unsafe  for  them  to  neglect.  We  commend  the  book  as  one  of  substantial  fabric 
— Presbyterian. 

The  spirit  of  the  book  is  genial  and  healthy.— Dai/y  Register. 

Truly  a  well-timed,  captivating  volume. — Saturday  Courier. 

Differing  in  its  localities,  incidents  and  characters  essentially  from  "  Shady  Side,"  it  is  likely  to 
rival  it  in  popularity  with  all  those  who  can  sympathize  with  a  patient,  pious,  conscientious  Christian 
teacher,  amidst  the  trials  and  sufferings  entailed  by  poverty,  and  the  faithful  labours  of  pastoral 
duties.— A<Zas. 


Will  be  sent  by  mail  free  of  postage. 

I  LINDSAY  &  BLAKISTON,  PUBLISHERS, 

I  26  South  Sixth  Street,  above  Chestnut,  Philadelphia.       « 


LINDSAY    &,  BLAKISTON'S   PUBLICATIONS. 

WATSON'S  NEW  DICTIONARY  OF  POETICAL  QUOTATIONS, 
Contaiuiiig  Elegant  Extracts  on  Every  Subject. 

COMPILED   FROM   VARIOUS    SOURCES,    AND    ARRANGED    APPROPRIATELY,   BY 

JOHN   T.   WATSON,   M.  D. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Frontispiece THE  NOONTIDE  DREAM. 

CONTEMPLATION.  THE  PARTING-  WREATH. 

MODESTY.  BEREAVEMENT. 

THE  THUNDERSTORM.  THE  BASHFUL  LOVER. 

THE  VILLAG-E  TOMB-CUTTER.  LOVE  AND  INNOCENCE. 

This  book  will  be  read  with  interest,  as  containing  the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  poets,  and  is  con- 
venient for  reference,  because  furnishing  appropriate  quotations  to  illustrate  a  vast  variety  of  sub- 
jects.—OZd  Colony  Memorial. 

We  view  it  as  a  casket  filled  with  the  most  precious  gems  of  learning  and  fancy,  and  so  arranged 
as  to  fascinate,  at  a  glance,  the  delicate  eye  of  taste.  By  referring  to  the  index,  which  is  arranged 
in  alphabetical  order,  you  can  find,  in  a  moment,  the  best  ideas  of  the  most  inspired  poets  of  this  coun- 
try, as  well  as  Europe,  upon  any  desired  subject.— CArowicfe. 

WELD^S  SACRED  POETICAL  POTATIONS  j 

OR,  SCRIPTURE  THEMES  AND  THOUGHTS, 

AS  PARAPHRASED  BY  THE   POETS. 
SELECTED  AND  ARRANGED  BY  THE  REV.  H.  HASTINGS  WELD. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Frontispiece HOPE. 

ROME  FROM  THE  TIBER.  THE  LOVE  OF  GOLD. 

CHILDREN  OF  THE  SKY.  THE  CROSS. 

FAITH.  THE  DISAPPOINTMENT. 

THE  G-RAVE.  TRUST  IN  G-OD. 


"  Therefore  with  joy  shall  ye  draw  waters  out  of  the  well  of  salvation."— 7saM  xii.  3. 
The  design  was  an  equally  happy  and  original  one,  that  of  collecting  the  fine  moral  and  religious 


passages  of  the  poets  which  are  paraphrases  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  the  execution  of  it  has  obviously  J 

involved  much  labour,  as  it  required  the  good  taste  and  critical  judgment  which  no  one  was  better  i 

qualified  than  Mr.  Weld  to  bring  to  the  tdisk.— North  America7i.  f 

BEAUTIFULLY  ILLUSTRATED  VOLUMES,  NEW  EDITIONS.  f 

ELEGANTLY   BOUND  FOR    PRESENTATION,  | 

In  Bevelled  and  Antique  Turkey  Morocco  and  Ultra-marine  and  Scarlet  Cloth 
Gilt  Bevelled  Boards. 


i  LINDSAY   &,   BLAKISTON'S   PUBLICATIONS.  | 


J  UNIFORM     EDITION. 

I  Price  75  cents  per  Volume,  and  sent  by  mail,  free  of  postage,  upon  receipt  of 

I  this  amount  by  the  Publishers. 

I  CUMMING'S  APOCALYPTIC  SKETCHES  ; 

I        OR,    LECTURES    ON    THE    BOOK    OF    REVELATION. 
I  One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth. 

I  CTJMMmG'S  APOCALYPTIC  SKETCHES. 

I  Second  Series.     One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth. 

I    CTIMMING'S  LECTURES  ON  THE  SEVE2T  CHURCHES. 

J  One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth. 

I     CUMMING'S  LECTURES  OET  OUR  LORD'S  MIRACLES. 

One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth. 

CUMMING'S  LECTURES  0^  THE  PARABLES. 

One  Volume.  12mo.     Cloth. 

CUMMING'S  PROPHSTIO   STUDIES; 

OR,   LECTURES    ON   THE    BOOK   OF   DANIEL. 
One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth. 

CUMMING'S  MINOR  WORKS.    First  Series. 

One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth.     This  Volume  contains  the  following  : 

THE  FINGER  OF  GOD,    CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER,    THE  COMFORTER. 

Which  are  all  bound  and  sold  separately.     Price  38  cents. 

CUMMING'S  MINOR  WORKS.    Second  Series. 

One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth.     This  Volume  contains  the  following : 

A  MESSAGE   FROM   GOD,   THE   GREAT   SACRIFICE,   AND   CHRIST   RECEIVING   SINNERS. 

Which  are  also  bound  and  sold  separately.     Price  38  cents.  ; ; 

I ; 

The  Rev.  John  Cumming,  D.D.,  is  now  the  great  pulpit  orator  of  London,  as  Edward  Irving  was  some  ', 
twenty  years  since.  But  very  diflFerent  is  tlie  Doctor  to  that  strange,  wonderfully  eloquent,  but  erratic  1 1 
man.  There  could  not  by  possibility  be  a  greater  contrast.  The  one  all  fire,  enthusiasm,  and  semi-  < ; 
madness;  the  other  a  man  of  chastened  energy  and  convincing  calmness.  The  one  lilte  a  meteor,  j| 
flasliing  across  a  troubled  sky,  and  then  vanisliing  suddenly  in  the  darkness ;  the  other  like  a  silver  ;  ; 
star,  shining  serenely,  and  illuminating  our  pathway  with  its  steady  ray.  He  is  looked  upon  as  the  ; ', 
great  clianipion  of  Protestantism  in  its  purest  form.  ',  > 

His  great  work  on  the  "Apocalypse,"  upon  which  his  high  reputation  as  a  writer  rests,  having  al-  ; . 
ready  reached  its  fifteenth  edition  in  England,  while  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Miracles,"  and  those  on  \ 
"  Daniel,"  have  passed  tlirough  six  editions  of  1000  copies  each,  and  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Parables' 
through  four  editions,  all  within  a  comparatively  short  time.  < ; 


A  Book  for  the  Amatoui*,  the  Gastrononior,  and  the  Man  of  Taste. 


BRILLAT    SAVARIN'S    CELEBRATED    BOOK. 


THE  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  TASTE, 

OR 

TEANSCENDENTAL  GASTRONOMY. 

BY 

BRILLAT  SAYARIN. 

TRANSLATED     FROM    THE     LAST    FRENCH    EDITION. 

IN  ONE  VOLUME,  12mo.     PRICE  $1  00. 

CONTENTS. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Author,  Aphorisms,  Dialogue  between  the  Author  and 
Friend,  Biography. 

The  Senses,  Taste,  Gastronomy,  Appetite.  Food  in  Germs,  section  first  and 
second.  Theory  of  Frying.  On  Thirst,  On  Drinks,  On  Gourmandise.  An 
Episode  on  the  End  of  the  World,  Gourmands,  Gastronomical  Tests,  On  the 
Pleasures  of  the  Table,  Haltes  de  Chasse,  On  Digestion,  Repose,  Sleep,  Dreams, 
Influence  of  Diet  on  Rest,  Sleep,  and  Dreams,  Obesity,  Preservative  Treatment 
and  Cure  of  Obesity,  Thinness,  Fasting,  Exhaustion,  Death,  Philosophical  His- 
tory of  the  Kitchen,  Restaurateurs,  Varieties. 

This  curious  and  interesting  book  has  passed  through  several  ed'itions  in  Paris,  but  has  never  here- 
tofore been  translated  in  this  country,  although  much  sought  after  by  those  who  could  enjoy  the  wit 
and  humour  so  freely  displayed  throughout  the  volume  in  the  original.  The  author  passed  some  time 
in  this  country,  and  has  introduced  some  anecdotes  and  criticisms  in  reference  to  men  and  things 
during  his  sojourn  here.    It  will  be  found  by  the  reader  to  be  full  both  of  instruction  and  amusement. 

OPINIONS    OF    THE    PRESS. 

We  can  cordially  commend  the  work  to  all  who  are  fond  of  amusing  philosophy,  shrewd  common 
sense,  pungent  anecdote,  and  genial  good  humour.  The  noble  art  of  gastronomy,  under  the  hand  of 
its  greatest  illustrator,  Savarin,  becomes  a  high  and  commanding  science.  The  duty  of  humanity  to 
eat,  the  close  dependence  of  national  greatness  upon  good  dinners,  the  true  secrets  of  artistic  cookery, 
and  a  thousand  other  interesting  facts,  are  here  set  down  as  dainty  dishes  for  the  literary  palate.  The 
book  i.s  one  which,  to  be  appreciated,  should  be  read  more  than  once,  and  will  bear  reperusal  a  good 
many  times. — Argus. 

This  is  not  only  an  instructive,  but  a  very  amusmg  book.  It  is  the  work  of  a  man  of  talent,  refined 
mannei-s,  good  taste,  cheerful  temper,  and  a  truly  philosophical  turn  of  mind,  and  yet  all  about  cook- 
ing and  eating.— Courier. 

This  is  a  book  we  cannot  help  reading.— iti/eZZ'j  Living  Age. 

A  masterpiece  in  its  way,  a  book  with  the  flavour  of  Perigord  and  Burgund.— ij^erary  World. 

It  presents,  in  an  attractive  shape,  an  elaborate  exposition  of  the  philosophy  of  the  kitchen  and  the 
table,  and  the  art  of  cookery  is  illustrated  in  the  most  romantic  style  that  can  be  conceived  from  a 
Frenchman  who  combines  the  two  characters  of  a  gourmand  and  a  bel  esprit.— BulUtin. 

"  His  stories  of  humour  are  always  effective,  and  his  playful  satire  perfectly  successful,  and  is  con- 
veyed in  a  style  which  has  no  model,  but  which  is  full  of  sparkle  and  point." 

LUTDSAY  &  BLAKISTON,  PTIBLISHEES,  PHILADELPHIA. 


»^ 


I  LINDSAY    &.   BLAKISTON'S   PUBLICATIONS.  | 

Mm  Miwp  Slrafriraa  /eraalt  l^oets;    j 

With  Biographical  and  Critical  Notices,  and  Selections  from  | 
their  Writings.  I 

ILLUSTRATIONS.  > 

Frontispiece PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  OSGOOD.  \ 

THE  POET'S  HOWE.  LOVE  IN  ABSENCE.  * 

THE  COUNTESS.  LIZZIE.  i 

INNOCENCE.  THE  MORNING-GLORY.  | 

THE  BRIDE.  JUST  SEVENTEEN.  | 

The  literary  merit  of  Miss  May's  book  we  can  heartily  and  sincerely  praise,  if  speaking  the  truth  f 

*    can  be  called  praise.    The  notices,  biographical  and  critical,  are  concise,  reliable,  and  in  most  in-  f 

%    stances  strictly  impartial.— A'eaZ's  Gazette.  J 

S       We  regard  this  volume  as  a  proud  monument  of  the  genius  and  cultivation  of  American  women,  i 

J    and  we  heartily  commend  it  to  all  our  female  readers  as  eminently  worthy  of  their  attention.— Zow-  f 

i    isville  Journal.  5 

i     Ir.  SSftljnne^s  '36ritis[i  /traale  ^orts;     | 

I  With  Biographical  and  Critical  Notices,  and  Selections  from  \ 
I  their  Writings.  \ 

\  ILLUSTRATIONS.  | 

I  Frontispiece PORTRAIT  OF  HON.  MRS.  NORTON.  i 

\  RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  HEMANS.  THE  WIDOV/.  \ 

I  TRUE  FELICITY.  EXPECTATION.  \ 

\  MANHOOD.  THE  DISCONSOLATE.  | 

I  THE  FAVOURITE  FLOWER.  ESTRELLA.  | 

I  In  the  department  of  English  poetry  we  have  long  looked  for  a  spirit  cast  in  nature's  finest,  yet  | 

J  most  elevated  mould,  possessed  of  the  most  delicate  and  exquisite  taste,  the  keenest  perception  of  f 

\  the  innate  true  and  beautiful  in  poetry,  as  opposed  to  their  opposites,  who  could  give  to  us  a  pure  i 

J  collection  of  British  Female  Poets,  many  of  them  among  tlie  choicest  spirits  that  ever  graced  and  > 

i  adorned  humanity.    Tlie  object  of  our  search  is  before  us ;  and  we  acknowledge  at  once  in  Dr.  13e-  J 

\  thune,  the  gifted  poet,  the  eloquent  divine,  and  the  humble  Christian,  one  who  combines,  in  an  emi-  * 

\  nent  degree,  all  the  characteristics  above  alluded  to.     It  rai.ses  the  mind  loftier  to  peruse  tlie  elegniit  » 

»  volume  before  us, chaste,  rich,  and  beautiful,  without  and  witliin.— TAe  Spectator.  t 

I  ^^^  The  present  Editions  of  the  above  Books  are  infinitely  superior  to  any  \ 

I  previous  ones  that  have  been  issued;  these  are  elegantly  bound  in  new  styles,  | 

5  the  Turkey  copies  in  Bevelled  Boards  and  Panelled,  with  Gilt  Edges;  the  Cloth  ^ 

I  copies  in  fast  colours,  Turkey  Grained,  Bevelled  Boards,  Gilt  Edges,  Backs  and  \ 

\  Sides.  i 

>  Price  of  each  Volume  in  Turkey  Bevelled  Boards,  Ac,    ...     $4  50  | 

I  "  <'  Cloth  Bevelled  Boards,  full  Gilt,     .     .       3  50  | 

I  In  Setts,  4  volumes,  elegantly  bound  to  match,  Turkey,  $16,  Cloth,  $12.         | 


k  ^^^1^^%^^!%^  %^^%^  %%%%% ' 


■* 


